New Delhi:- Taking cognisance of Talgo trials, Commissioner Railway Safety has sought details of the Spanish-made train and asked the Railways how the trial was conducted without its approval.
Railways had conducted trials of Talgo on Delhi-Mumbai route successfully last month by clocking about 12 hours which was 4 hours less that Rajdhani travel time.
Trial run of nine Talgo coaches hauled by Indian Railways locomotive was held on two other routes – Bareilly-Moradabad stretch in Uttar Pradesh and on the Palwal-Mathura section before Delhi-Mumbai run.
However, Railways had not sought CRS permission for the trial run of Talgo train.
“Since it was a trial run and there was no involvement of passengers in the entire operation, no permission was sought from CRS,” said a senior railway ministry official, adding, “the trial was conducted with the Railway Board’s approval”.
Railways seeks mandatory clearances from CRS before running new trains as per the standard procedure.
“We have responded to the CRS about the whole issue stating the details of trial operation,” the official said.
On whether CRS would be informed in future of such trials, he said a decision is yet to be taken on such issues.
The trial of Talgo coaches, shipped from Barcelona, was conducted with empty coaches as well as coaches filled with sand bags.
Railways aims to reduce travel time between the two metropolis by increasing train speed on the existing track.
The light-weight Spanish coaches can easily negotiate on the curves as it takes less time to accelerate and decelerate on the existing track.
Since there are a large number of high-speed rail vendors in the market, the Railways is yet to decide on whether it will float tenders or get into a public partnership model with Talgo as a way forward.
PTI
