The Spanish Talgo train completed its final trial run between Delhi and Mumbai. It was successful in achieving its targeted time of completing the journey in just under 12 hours. Now, we can say ‘Delhi ab dur nahi’.
The train left Delhi at 2:45 pm on Saturday and reached Mumbai on wee hour of Sunday morning at 2:34 am.
Indian Railways has been aiming to reduce the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai by over 4 hours. The super-fast Talgo trains were under trial runs for this reason. Nine super light-weight coaches manufactured by Spanish firm Talgo, which can hit 200 km per hour, were imported to Mumbai in April.
The tracks between Delhi and Mumbai cover about 1,400 km. Currently, the Rajdhani Express makes the journey in 16 hours.
The nine-coach Talgo train consists of two Executive Class cars, four Chair Cars, a cafeteria, a power car and a tail-end coach for staff and equipment.
Indian Railways had conducted the first trial run of Talgo trains on the Bareilly-Moradabad stretch in Uttar Pradesh, following which, the second trial run was conducted on the Palwal-Mathura section of the North-Central Railway.
The railways will collate the results of technical and speed tests to determine whether to buy the Talgo coaches.
Railway officials say bids will also be sought from other manufacturers for similar high-speed light-weight coaches.
