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Red light for Spanish racer’s dream run:
Context:
- Despite a successful trail, the train from Spain that could have drastically shortened the duration of a journey appears to have come to a halt.
- The government is unable to move forward on its plan to rope in Spanish locomotive firm Talgo.
The issue:
- A series of problems has been highlighted with the ambitious project, including the inability to enlist a single bidder for a large order size, technical changes to train design, and high lease costs.
The successful field trail of Talgo:
- The Indian Railways had conducted trials of Talgo coaches last year to validate their speed potential and examine the time saved for a journey between New Delhi and Mumbai.
- The trains clocked a top speed of 180 km per hour. They completed the 1,384 kilometre journey between the two metros in just 11 hours and 40 minutes, compared to the 15 hours and 50 minutes taken by the Rajdhani Express.
- This was the first time that the Indian Railways had allowed a foreign train company to conduct a field trial on its tracks.
- Notably, the successful trial of Talgo’s trains was even highlighted in the list of the NDA government’s achievements in its first two years.
