Mumbai: The high-speed Talgo train's arrival in Mumbai this morning has been delayed by heavy rain.
The Spanish-made Talgo started its final round of trials from Delhi to Mumbai on Monday evening, aiming at a maximum speed of 130 km per hour. It was expected to reach the financial capital in about four hours less than the time taken by the Rajdhani Express.
But the train that clocked 180 km per hour on its first trial on a different route slowed down in Gujarat because of heavy rain and flooding on the track.
Talgo aims to cut the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai to 12 hours from 16 hours.
The train with nine lightweight coaches started its journey at 7.55 pm from New Delhi station.
The trial runs will continue between Mumbai and Delhi over the next 15 days to test the tracks for cruising speeds of 130 to 150 km per hour.
The second trial will be held on Friday, the third on August 9 and the final on August 14. The route will be tested for higher speeds every time.
"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," railway official Hemant Kumar told news agency PTI.
Railways had first tested the Talgo trains on the Bareilly-Moradabad stretch in Uttar Pradesh in May. The second trial run was conducted on the Palwal-Mathura route.
The Spanish-made Talgo started its final round of trials from Delhi to Mumbai on Monday evening, aiming at a maximum speed of 130 km per hour. It was expected to reach the financial capital in about four hours less than the time taken by the Rajdhani Express.
But the train that clocked 180 km per hour on its first trial on a different route slowed down in Gujarat because of heavy rain and flooding on the track.
Talgo aims to cut the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai to 12 hours from 16 hours.
The train with nine lightweight coaches started its journey at 7.55 pm from New Delhi station.
The trial runs will continue between Mumbai and Delhi over the next 15 days to test the tracks for cruising speeds of 130 to 150 km per hour.
The second trial will be held on Friday, the third on August 9 and the final on August 14. The route will be tested for higher speeds every time.
"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," railway official Hemant Kumar told news agency PTI.
Railways had first tested the Talgo trains on the Bareilly-Moradabad stretch in Uttar Pradesh in May. The second trial run was conducted on the Palwal-Mathura route.