Delhi to Mumbai in just 12 hours sounds like a dream come true, isn’t it? Well, the Spanish-made high-speed train Talgo completed its phase of the trial (from New Delhi to Mumbai) on Tuesday, i.e. August 3. Instead of 12 hours, the train took 3 more hours to cover 1,384 km. As per a Western Railway official, “The train had commenced its final phase trial run from Delhi yesterday at 7:55 PM and arrived in Mumbai today at 11.40 AM, over three hours behind schedule”. It was due to heavy rains and technical glitch that the train got delayed by three hours or else it would have reached the Maximum City at 8:31 AM.
According to railways, “There was water logging beyond Surat, between Udvada-Vapi-Bhilad section, which considerably delayed the movement of trains as speed restrictions had to be imposed for safety reasons”.
This is what the Ministry of Railways reported:
- Talgo special Train departed from New Delhi at 19:55 hrs.
- It travelled through the same route which is followed by the New Delhi – Mumbai Rajdhani Express train No. 12952. It also observed the same permanent and temporary speed restrictions as well as the sectional speeds of Rajdhani Express Train No. 12952.
- The existing Rajdhani Express takes 15:50 hrs from New Delhi – Mumbai Central.
- Talgo train, because of heavy rains enroute and due to point failure at Mathura Junction, reached at 11:36 AM at Mumbai Central (15:41 hrs).
- There was water logging beyond Surat, on the Udvada – Vapi – Bhilad section, which considerably delayed the movement of trains as speed restrictions had to be imposed for safety reasons.
- Accordingly, beyond Surat, the Talgo train could not implement its trial schedule because of the reason beyond their control.
- Anyway, from Delhi – Surat, the Talgo train took around 2 hours less in comparison to Rajdhani Express.
- The Talgo train fully succeeded in its maiden trial between New Delhi and Mumbai.
- Although for the reasons mentioned above, it would have taken approximately 3 hours lesser than the Rajdhani train in reaching Mumbai Central. It means that it would have reached in just 12 hours 47 minutes as claimed and planned.
- Average Running Speed of Rajdhani Express (New Delhi-Surat) – 89.76 kmph
- Average Running Speed of Talgo Train (New Delhi-Surat) – 106.52 kmph
It is believed that the next trial runs will be held on August 9 and August 14 respectively. And the train would be allowed to run at a speed between 140 kmph to 150 kmph.
If you don’t know already, the first trial run was conducted in May on the Bareilly-Moradabad stretch in Uttar Pradesh, and the second one on the Palwal-Mathura section of the North-Central Railway.
All you need to know about Talgo trains
Lesser travel time and 30% less energy consumption (that’ll eventually help in reducing the power bill) are the main highlights of the Talgo trains.
Just like planes, the coaches of these trains have seats close to each other and a normal luggage rack. Even the space between the seats is not much, leaving no space for anything bigger than a backpack. Also, there’s a wall-mounted table in between the seats, as per the info shared in a report.
The government has been working towards bringing faster trains with facilities that provide a better travel experience to travellers as told by the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. He also mentioned that the railways is trying its best to meet the expectations of the society and aims at achieving seven missions, including the “Mission on Speed”, “Mission to Have Zero Accidents” and “Mission on Accounting Reforms”, etc.
