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The train with nine lightweight coaches will start its journey at 7.55 PM from New Delhi station and is expected to reach Mumbai at about 8.31 AM in the morning
Spanish-made train Talgo will commence its third and final phase of trials, n Monday, from Delhi to Mumbai aiming a maximum speed of 130 kmph and is expected to reach the financial capital in about four hours less than the time taken by Rajdhani.
Talgo aims to cut travel time between Delhi and Mumbai to 12 hours.
The train with nine lightweight coaches will start its journey at 7.55 PM from New Delhi station and is expected to reach Mumbai at about 8.31 AM in the morning.
"This is the timing trial and we want to find out how much time it is likely to save if we allow such type of coaches to run on our track. Four such trials will take place with speed ranging from 130 kmph to 150 kmph," Railway board member (mechanical) Hemant Kumar told PTI.
The second trial will be held on August 5, the third on August 9 and the fourth and final on August 14.
"First trial will be at 130 km per hour today and the train is expected to take 12 hours 36 minutes to reach Mumbai. While Rajdhani takes 16 hours, this is expected to take four hours less to reach Mumbai," Kumar said.
He said since the train is lighter, and takes lesser time for acceleration and deceleration on curves.
"This is our time trial. We had already done the safety trial between Palwal and Mathura where we had gone upto 180 kmph both loaded and empty run," he added.
The second trial between Delhi and Mumbai will also be at 130 kmph and in the third trial, the train will be allowed to run at a higher speed of 140 kmph.
"Then the fourth trial will be at 150 kmph with higher speed on the curves. We expect that it is likely to take 11 hours 30 minutes at 150 kmph to reach Mumbai," he said.
Railways had conducted the first trial run of Talgo trains on the Bareilly-Moradabad stretch in Uttar Pradesh in May. The second trial run was conducted on the Palwal-Mathura section of the North-Central Railway.
However, Kumar said the train cannot be used on Indian Railways in its present form.
"This has got lower platform height and in this form it cannot be used. After trial if we decide to go for it then we have to find ways and means as to how to go about it," he said.
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.
Currently, the super-fast Rajdhani Express train takes around 16 hours to complete the 1,384 km stretch between New Delhi and Mumbai.
The Mumbai Central-New Delhi Rajdhani Express has an average running speed of nearly 91 kmph and it can attain a top speed of 130 kmph.
Hauled by a 4,500 HP diesel engine, Talgo coaches are lightweight and designed in a way that they can run on curves without decelerating.
A team of Spanish officials along with railway officials and experts from Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) will be present onboard during the trial.
Shipped from Barcelona, the Talgo aluminium coaches anchored at Mumbai port on April 21.
After the successful launch of semi-high speed (160 kmph) Gatimaan Express on the Delhi-Agra route in April, Talgo trial is being conducted as part of Indian Railway's strategy to increase the speed of trains.
According to the plan, Talgo trains are expected to be first pressed into service on Delhi-Mumbai sector.
Besides reducing travel time, Talgo's lighter trains consume 30 per cent less energy.
The Railways have set up a Mobility Directorate to work on strategies to increase speed of trains.
Photograph: Kind courtesy, Tegeler/Wikimedia Commons