The Spanish 9-coach trainset from Talgo is set to arrive at Mumbai Central station at around 11:30am on Tuesday.
The all-important Delhi to Mumbai leg trial of the train is expected to start in a few days, confirmed officials. The first phase of trial of the rake, which started between Bareilly and Moradabad on May 29, has been completed, said officials.
According to railway board officials, the second phase of the trials on the 85km stretch between Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and Palwal in Haryana began on July 9 and has also been completed recently.
The Mumbai-Delhi trial will be a time-testing trial of the train and it will be conducted over the Mumbai to Delhi route, which is the route Indian Railways plans to deploy this train on if all goes according to plan and the railways place an order for such a trainset from the Spanish manufacturer.
"The trials on the Mumbai-Delhi stretch will see the train tested for time, as in how much time it takes to cover the distance at varying speeds of 130kmph and 150kmph. This phase will be some time in August," said an official..
This is the first time the railways is testing a fully imported train of this kind. If successful, the train, at an average speed of 120kmph, has the potential to shave for several hours on the Mumbai-Delhi route where the Rajdhani trains currently run at an average speed of 85 kmph.
