Railways completes trial run of 160-kmph Delhi-Agra train

The Indian Railways on Thursday managed to stretch the maximum speed on its rails by 10 km to 160 km, with the successful trial run on the Delhi-Agra route.

However, the country's fastest train, which was to cover the distance between Delhi and Agra in targeted 90 minutes, at a speed of 160 kilometres per hour, actually took 100 minutes to complete the run.

The semi-high speed train, flagged off from platform number six of the New Delhi Railway Station at 11:20 in the morning, reached Agra at around 1 pm, taking 100 minutes against the targeted 90 minutes.

Railways used a WAP 7 5400HP electric locomotive for the trial run.

At 160 kmph, the semi high-speed train is expected to reduce the current travel time between Delhi and Agra from 120 minutes to 90 minutes.

At present, the Bhopal Shatabdi Express, India's fastest train, runs at 150 kmph between Delhi and Agra.

Indian Railways' plans to launch services of the 10-coach semi high-speed train in November this year.

It is estimated that an additional cost of Rs15 crore would be incurred to make the track ready for the semi-high speed train. A 27-km stretch along the track between Delhi and Agra will also have to be fenced to prevent obstruction and ensure speed.

After the Delhi to Agra service, the railways plan to run similar trains for Kanpur and Chandigarh from the national capital.

India is also looking at introducing high-speed Bullet trains like those running in Japan as part of an expanded economic collaboration with Japan.

India had, on Monday, sought Japanese investment to develop 100 smart cities and high-speed bullet trains to improve infrastructure and create jobs.

"Japan is a natural partner of India. Japan is best in developing smart cities, development of high-speed trains...In the next five years, we need 10,000 Japanese companies. We will hand-hold them," Amitabh Kant, secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, said at a FICCI function.

Kant said Japan has already formed a partnership with India for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, a 1,483-km dedicated freight corridor.

He said about 1,000 Japanese companies currently have a presence in India.

In its election manifesto, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said it would initiate the building of 100 new cities, enabled with the latest in technology and infrastructure.

India has proposed to build smart cities under the DMIC project. They will have self-sustainable habitats with minimal pollution levels, maximum recycling, optimised energy supplies and efficient public transportation.

India received $16.26 billion worth of foreign direct investment from Japan between April 2000 and April 2014.