Indian Railways To Bring Talgo Trains To Shatabdi Routes In Under A Year's Time

Shewali Tiwari     November 8, 2016

We've seen our railways evolving like never before under the leadership of beloved Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. With massive advancements in the way we travel, things that were once a luxury are now an everyday thing. 

indiatimes

In the same vein, in an attempt to keep up with the best, the Indian Railways plans to bring on board 2-5 Talgo trains in less than a year's time.

The ministry is awaiting approval on the Niti Aayog before officially asking the Spanish manufacturer of high-speed trains to lease these. Once through the approval process, it will take less than a year for these trains to come on board. 

"The train is likely to have around 26 coaches each so that the total capacity matches that of the existing Shatabdis,” said a source.

indiatimes

The cost of these coaches is not known yet. Owing to the urgent requirement, Talgo will use the international coaches and modify it to suit India. Among the major changes, platform heights, toilets, and platform train gap topped the list. The trains will be refurbished as much as possible since the company aims at giving them an Indian twist. To begin with, these coaches are likely to take over the Shatabdi train routes. 

Talgo trains aim at reducing travel time drastically. 

The first few coaches that came in had two Executive Class cars, four Chair Cars, a cafeteria, a power car and a tail-end coach. The Spanish company claims that its coaches are 45% lighter and 30% more energy efficient than conventional coaches. Furthermore, these coaches have been designed with a unique tilting mechanism, that allows the train to attain higher speeds even on curves.