Speedy Talgo Tangoes From Delhi To Mumbai In Record Time, Still Unfit For India?

The lightweight, all-aluminium, Talgo train from Spain, has once again rewritten the record books for the fastest journey undertaken from Delhi to Mumbai on the Indian railway network.

The Spanish train took just 12 hours and seven minutes to complete the journey between Delhi and Mumbai, beating its own record by 29 minutes. The fastest express train between Delhi and Mumbai, the Mumbai Rajdhani takes 15 hours and 35 minutes to complete the same journey.

Despite clocking a record time and hitting 140km/h on the 1,384-kilometre journey (At an average speed of 114km/h) , the Talgo was actually a few minutes behind schedule, due to some issues on account of "unusual occurrences."

However, despite the fast speeds achieved and the records broken by the Talgo, the Spanish train may not ever make into India.Hemant Kumar, Member (Rolling Stock) of the Railway Board, said, "The Talgo train has low height in contrast to the height of the platforms. Since there will be significant gap between the train and the platform, there will be safety concerns for the passengers. Also, the width of the coaches are small, which will not make it possible to customize to the Indian requirements for sleeper coaches."

Kumar went on to say that the Indian Railways would put out an open tender for acquiring such lightweight trains from the global market.