Talgo on trial

MUMBAI: The Spanish-made Talgo high-speed train reached Mumbai from New Delhi on its third trial run on Tuesday but was over three hours late owing to heavy rains

MUMBAI: The Spanish-made Talgo high-speed train reached Mumbai from New Delhi on its third trial run on Tuesday but was over three hours late owing to heavy rains

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It is expected to cut down travel time between New Delhi and Mumbai by around four hours - from the existing 16 to 12 hours. The third and last phase of trials begins from August 1 And will end on August 5. The trials will be conducted between Delhi and Mumbai

In the first and second phase of trials, the Railways conducted various tests such as oscillation test, braking distance tests and suspension tests, among others

Railways is now conducting only speed trials in the last phase. The train will be tested at speeds of 130kmph, 140kmph and 150kmph

The first trials of Talgo trains used an electric engine of Class WAP 5. WAP 5 is the name of a class of high-speed electric locomotives produced and used by the Indian Railways. However, railways is going to use diesel engines for the three trial runs.

The train clocked a highest speed of 130kmph during the trials. It was running before the scheduled time until Ratlam junction station, But later it got delayed owing to the floods in Gujarat.

The train departed from New Delhi At 7.55pm, about 3 hours and 30 minutes after the Rajdhani Express. It reached Mumbai Central station At 11.36am. The Talgo train reached four minutes before Rajdhani

The New Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express takes 15 hours and 50 minutes for its journey between the two cities. The Talgo train took 15 hours And 41 minutes.

During the journey, the Talgo train passed 226 stations, but halted at only five stations. It was, however, forced to take eight other unscheduled halts owing to floods. A total of 11 engineers and technicians of Talgo were on board the train for conducing the trials.