NEW DELHI: Spain has shipped its high speed Talgo train to be tried on Delhi-Mumbai route and it is expected to arrive at Mumbai port by this month end. Talgo has assured the Railways that it does not require any changes in the existing tracks for the trial run of its special train for three months from May end. The company had offered to carry out the trials at its own cost.
The company engineers have assured the Railway Ministry that their coaches are so designed that they would not derail while taking sharp bends at high speed as the coaches automatically tilt to prevent any such mishap and that is why it does not find any need to relay some of the tracks unlike the changes made at several places before launching the Gatiman Express with a speed up to 160 km per hour between Delhi and Agra on Tuesday.
If the trials are successful, the Indian Railways will be importing 30 new coaches from the Spanish firm to introduce the high speed train on Delhi-Mumbai route, reducing the travel time by two hours fifteen minutes.
The company will be testing the train for three months at different speeds of 120, 130, 160 and 200 km per hour. The trials will be carried out under the supervision of the Lucknow-based Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), the Railway Ministry sources said.
