Talgo set to cut Mumbai-Delhi rail travel time to 12 hours
27 Jul 2016
The high-speed, made-in-Spain Talgo train will reach Mumbai by 2 August for more speed trials on the Delhi-Mumbai route, Western Railway officials confirmed. The trial will involve multiple performance tests of the rake at different speeds to check its smooth running and efficiency.
The train is likely to reduce travel time between Delhi and Mumbai to almost 12 hours, down from the minimum 16 hours at present.
The train had clocked 180 km per hour during its third trial run on the Mathura-Palwal stretch two weeks ago. Officials confirmed that the railways' Research Designs & Standards Organization (RDSO) will conduct multiple rounds of tests on the train this week, before finalising its suitability for Indian tracks.
The train will leave Delhi on the night of 1 August and reach Mumbai Central station on 2 August. After a day of rest, the train will start from Mumbai on 3 August for Delhi, during which a 130-kmph speed trial will be conducted. After that, the train will again depart from Delhi for Mumbai, this time at a speed of 150 kmph.
''The motive of this trial is to check if the train is suitable to Indian tracks on various speed limits. Also, as the ultimate route on which the Talgo will run is between Delhi and Mumbai, qualifying the trials here will be very important,'' Saurabh Gupta, additional divisional railway manager (ADRM), Western Railway, said. Presently, the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express runs at an average speed of 88 km per hour. The Talgo can maintain an average speed of 125 kmph.
Teams from RDSO, Lucknow, executive director-testing directorate, would also come along with other team of directors and testing engineers to inspect the efficiency of the speed trials.
''We have already received an approval two weeks ago in the form of a Joint Safety Certificate (JSC) to conduct trials of the train between Delhi and Mumbai. Only after our internal teams approve of its running and safety can the testing be done by Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), an external body, followed by the Railway Board, which will take the final decision on its service,'' Gupta said.