After Talgo, Indian Railways tests push-pull locomotive train in Rajasthan to increase speed

[fsayed]

HOME EDITOR'S PICK
RAILWAYS TRANSPORTATION June 2, 2016| Anisha Dutta | New Delhi | anisha.dutta@vccircle.com
After Talgo, Indian Railways tests push-pull locomotive train in Rajasthan to increase speed


The aim is to create more track capacity by running faster trains. Photo by Shah Junaid.
In a bid to run trains at a higher speed on the existing infrastructure, the Indian Railways is for the first time running trials of passenger trains with push-pull locomotives between Jaipur and Jodhpur.
The push-pull mode of operating locomotive-hauled trains allows the train to be driven from both ends as it has locomotives attached to the front as well as the rear of the train.
The national carrier’s rationale for increasing the speed is aimed towards easing congestion and attracting traffic on the railways network, thereby increasing its freight and passenger revenue.
“We started trials for locomotive-hauled trains during the last 10 days or so from Jaipur to Jodhpur. In total, it is a journey of around four-and-a-half hours and we have been able to save around 35 minutes till now. The trial will continue for another three months,” said a senior railways ministry official requesting anonymity.
Though the train is being tested at the speed of 110-115 km per hour (kmph), the average speed of the train is said to increase due to the unique nature of the push-pull locomotive. If successfully implemented, the Indian Railways aims to replicate the push-pull locomotives model for longer routes such as Delhi to Mumbai.
“As we accelerate, we gain around a minute and a few seconds. As every time the train stops and starts, the acceleration-deceleration time goes down. Trials of this nature are happening for the first time and a lot of clearances were required. The aim is to create more line capacity by running faster trains,” said the official quoted above.
This comes in the backdrop of the Indian Railways’ focus on indigenous production of semi-high speed trains running between 160 kmph and 200 kmph.
On 28 May, Hemant Kumar, member mechanical, Railway Board, had gone to oversee the trials along with an Indian Railways team.
“As of now, there is only one particular train which has been modified; others we’ll modify later. We will try to use it on some high density network. Also, right now we are testing them on an experimental basis,” said Kumar.
The railways is simultaneously conducting trial runs for Talgo coaches between Bareily and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh which started on 29 May. The trials will be done in a series of phases and will move to various routes.
“We are thinking that once this scheme is successful, we will bring it to bigger routes such as Delhi-Mumbai. If it can cut down travel time by around two hours or more, it will be ideal,” said the unmanned railways ministry official quoted above.
Lauding the steps taken by the Indian Railways towards increasing the average speed of its trains, experts believe that the railways should focus on increasing line capacity at a faster pace.
“These are steps in the right direction for increasing the speed—whether it is the push-pull locomotive or the trials for the Spanish Talgo. The idea is to run trains faster on the existing infrastructure. The Indian Railways have to move aggressively on increasing the line capacity on the existing tracks and though its direction is correct, the pace has to increase,” said Akhileshwar Sahay, a former Indian Railway Accounts Service officer.

 

[fsayed]

http://www.vccircle.com/infracircle...ll-locomotive-train-rajasthan-increase-speed/

@nair @proud_indian @Roybot @jbgt90 @Sergi @Water Car Engineer @dadeechi @kurup @Rain Man @kaykay @Abingdonboy @SR-91 @nang2 @Stephen Cohen

Vision 2020


The Indian Railways' VISION 2020 envisages the following on High Speed Corridors:
"India is unique and alone among the major countries of the world in not having a single high-speed rail corridor capable of running trains at speeds of over 250 kmph. High Speed corridors have played a major role in revitalization of Railways in Japan and Europe. Of late, high speed-rail networks are also getting built in China, Taiwan, and USA. Indian Railways would follow a two-pronged approach in this respect. The first approach would be to raise the speed of segregated passenger corridors on trunk routes using conventional technology to 160 to 200 kmph. The second approach would be to identify a number of intercity routes, depending on viability, and build state-of-the-art high-speed corridors for speeds up to 350 kmph through on PPP mode in partnerships with the State Governments. Partnerships with the State Governments would be crucial as real-estate development would be a key element of viability of these high-cost projects. By 2020, at least four corridors of 2000 kms would be developed and planning for 8 other corridors would be in different stages of progress."

 

[dray]

http://www.vccircle.com/infracircle...ll-locomotive-train-rajasthan-increase-speed/

@nair @proud_indian @Roybot @jbgt90 @Sergi @Water Car Engineer @dadeechi @kurup @Rain Man @kaykay @Abingdonboy @SR-91 @nang2 @Stephen Cohen

Indian Railways is doing some great work.
@anant_s

 

[Vergennes]

@anant_s Did you guys think about the TGV by any chances ?

 

[fsayed]

Current effort to increase speed to 160-200 km/h Edit

Indian Railways aims to increase the speed of passenger trains to 160–200 km/h on dedicated conventional tracks. They intend to improve their existing conventional lines to handle speeds of up to 160 km/h, with a goal of speeds above 200 km/h on new tracks with improved technology.[10]

In February 2014, Henri Poupart-Lafarge of Alstom, manufacturer of trains used on TGV in France, stated that India is at least 5–10 years away from high-speed trains. He suggested the country should first upgrade the infrastructure to handle trains travelling 100 to 120 km/hr.[11]

In July 2014, a trial run of a "semi-high speed train" with 10 coaches and 2 generators reached a speed of 160 km/h between New Delhi and Agra, but no date has been set for commercial operations.[12] The train, named Gatimaan Express, had its first commercial run at 5 April 2016.It is expected to reach the maximum speed of 160 kmph and an average speed of 113 kmph.[13]


Dedicated Freight Corridors
Initially the trains will have the maximum speed of 160 km/h, with railway coaches which can run at the speed of 200 km/h will be rolled out from Railway Coach Factory of Indian Railway from June, 2015.[14]

Current Semi-high speed systems Edit
Recently just in the start of 2016 India has inaugurated the semi high speed rail system in India . Gatiman Express is India's first semi high speed train and also the fastest train of India till date which runs at the top speed of 160 km/hr from Delhi to Agra . After the Inauguration of Gatimaan express on 5 April 2016 by honourable Railway minister of India Mr Suresh Prabhu has marked as a starting point of semi high speed rail system in India . Now India is proud to have a semi high speed rail system . After the great success of Gatmaan Express and due to high public support the Government of India is planning to start these trains on Delhi - Bhopal / Chandigarh / Kanpur / Lucknow sections shotly.[15][16] Railway minister Mr Sadananda Gowda[17] mentioned in his Rail budget 2014 speech that the railways are going to start high speed trains at 160–200 km/h on 9 routes.[18] But as of 2015, no semi-high speed trains are running in Indian Railway network.

@anant_s Did you guys think about the TGV by any chances ?

Projects
CONTRACT AWARDED FOR THE CONSULTANCY OF FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR DIAMOND QUADRILATERAL NETWORK OF HIGH SPEED RAIL CORRIDORS
a) Delhi-Mumbai (Package-I)
Feasibility Study Contract awarded to a Consortium of M/s The Third Railway Survey and Design Institute Group Corporation (CHINA) and Lahmeyer International (India) Pvt. Ltd, India
b) Mumbai-Chennai (Package-II)
Feasibility Study Contract awarded to a Consortium of M/s SYSTRA (FRANCE) - RITES- Ernest &Young LLP.

 

[Abingdonboy]

@anant_s Did you guys think about the TGV by any chances ?

If the French Govt can make a good offer to the Indian Railways then there is no reason why not. The Japanese have already got a march on the rest by offering full ToT, localised manufacturing, 0.1% interest rates over a payback period of 50 years with a 15 year grace period. Considering the partnerships between India in over sectors (defence, power )solar and nuclear) etc) Railways should be added to the list too.

 

[anant_s]

Did you guys think about the TGV by any chances ?

If TGV comes to India, it would be a quantum leap as far as HS rail technology is concerned. However inspite of my best efforts to understand, it looks unclear what Indian government and railway board is planning for HST in India. Till date, Japan has confirmed, assistance for Mumbai Ahmedabad line, including funding. France has extended support for New Delhi Chandigarh Line and China has expressed support for New Delhi Chennai Lines.
If we take example of SNCF's progress since 1960s and extend it to Europe as whole, we will find that newer routes have progressively come under HST network and that has kept business going and technology evolving.
I can quote similar example for China, where shortly they'll have 20000 kms under HST network (@AndrewJin am i right here?)
Right now we are taking baby steps and i would love to see standardization in terms of design and technology. Once we have say 1500-2000 kms of HST network ready, we can build upon the same. But right now work and plan seem to be fragmented at best.

 

[AndrewJin]

If TGV comes to India, it would be a quantum leap as far as HS rail technology is concerned. However inspite of my best efforts to understand, it looks unclear what Indian government and railway board is planning for HST in India. Till date, Japan has confirmed, assistance for Mumbai Ahmedabad line, including funding. France has extended support for New Delhi Chandigarh Line and China has expressed support for New Delhi Chennai Lines.
If we take example of SNCF's progress since 1960s and extend it to Europe as whole, we will find that newer routes have progressively come under HST network and that has kept business going and technology evolving.
I can quote similar example for China, where shortly they'll have 20000 kms under HST network (@AndrewJin am i right here?)
Right now we are taking baby steps and i would love to see standardization in terms of design and technology. Once we have say 1500-2000 kms of HST network ready, we can build upon the same. But right now work and plan seem to be fragmented at best.

The initial phase is indeed most important of all.
That will decide what kind of strategy to be used in the long term.

And I think such phase should not be fast-tracked just for the purpose of elections.
Especially when you have so many countries that want to have a share, it is easily leading to a chaotic scenario where there are no common technological standards with immense compatibility problems. For China, building railways themselves have no international interference, totally built by our own SOEs, though at the first several years some parts of the ballastless tracks had to use imported components from Germany. But still, it was local construction companies that were responsible for all the design and construction of railways. For rolling stock, first several units had to be imported, then all trains had to be manufactured locally by joint ventures (for example, CRH2 from Kawasaki-Sifang joint venture). At last, now, design our new models and massively manufacture to replace old foreign models (for example CRH380A and CRH350).

However, the reason that Chinese construction companies could build high-speed tracks without any participation of foreign builders, is that even before introduction of 300+km/h trains, they had spent one decade and more navigating how to build proper high-speed tracks since 1990s. Before the first 300+km/h HSR was built(2008), they had already gained expertise on both upgrading old railways to 250km/h(7 rounds of speed-up campaigns) and building new semi-high-speed railways before any introduction of foreign tech (1999-2003, 404km-long Qinshen Rapid Rail, operational speed 250km/h, highest test speed 321.5km/h). Based on previous experiences and expertise, absorbing new foreign technology would be very fast. It was based on what they had learnt from the Qinshen Rapid Rail, new HSRs of international standards were built since 2005(first one finished in 2008), for example Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Tianjin and Wuhan-Guangzhou HSR. Generally, people forget the previous 1-2 decades of trials and experiments when they try to gauge how fast it has been for China after 2008.

CRH380A
operational speed 380km/h
maximum test speed 486km/h

CRH350
operational speed 350km
test speed 380-400km/h
The new generation standardised bullet train for the next decade

CRH350 & CIT500
(operational speed in lab 500+km/h, will be tested on a specially designed section of a new HSR at 500km/h).

 

[Aero]

Pull-push configuration , fuel cost will rise?

Are they doing anything special to increase stability as speed increases?

HOME EDITOR'S PICK
RAILWAYS TRANSPORTATION June 2, 2016| Anisha Dutta | New Delhi | anisha.dutta@vccircle.com
After Talgo, Indian Railways tests push-pull locomotive train in Rajasthan to increase speed


The aim is to create more track capacity by running faster trains. Photo by Shah Junaid.
In a bid to run trains at a higher speed on the existing infrastructure, the Indian Railways is for the first time running trials of passenger trains with push-pull locomotives between Jaipur and Jodhpur.
The push-pull mode of operating locomotive-hauled trains allows the train to be driven from both ends as it has locomotives attached to the front as well as the rear of the train.
The national carrier’s rationale for increasing the speed is aimed towards easing congestion and attracting traffic on the railways network, thereby increasing its freight and passenger revenue.
“We started trials for locomotive-hauled trains during the last 10 days or so from Jaipur to Jodhpur. In total, it is a journey of around four-and-a-half hours and we have been able to save around 35 minutes till now. The trial will continue for another three months,” said a senior railways ministry official requesting anonymity.
Though the train is being tested at the speed of 110-115 km per hour (kmph), the average speed of the train is said to increase due to the unique nature of the push-pull locomotive. If successfully implemented, the Indian Railways aims to replicate the push-pull locomotives model for longer routes such as Delhi to Mumbai.
“As we accelerate, we gain around a minute and a few seconds. As every time the train stops and starts, the acceleration-deceleration time goes down. Trials of this nature are happening for the first time and a lot of clearances were required. The aim is to create more line capacity by running faster trains,” said the official quoted above.
This comes in the backdrop of the Indian Railways’ focus on indigenous production of semi-high speed trains running between 160 kmph and 200 kmph.
On 28 May, Hemant Kumar, member mechanical, Railway Board, had gone to oversee the trials along with an Indian Railways team.
“As of now, there is only one particular train which has been modified; others we’ll modify later. We will try to use it on some high density network. Also, right now we are testing them on an experimental basis,” said Kumar.
The railways is simultaneously conducting trial runs for Talgo coaches between Bareily and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh which started on 29 May. The trials will be done in a series of phases and will move to various routes.
“We are thinking that once this scheme is successful, we will bring it to bigger routes such as Delhi-Mumbai. If it can cut down travel time by around two hours or more, it will be ideal,” said the unmanned railways ministry official quoted above.
Lauding the steps taken by the Indian Railways towards increasing the average speed of its trains, experts believe that the railways should focus on increasing line capacity at a faster pace.
“These are steps in the right direction for increasing the speed—whether it is the push-pull locomotive or the trials for the Spanish Talgo. The idea is to run trains faster on the existing infrastructure. The Indian Railways have to move aggressively on increasing the line capacity on the existing tracks and though its direction is correct, the pace has to increase,” said Akhileshwar Sahay, a former Indian Railway Accounts Service officer.

 

[anant_s]

Talgo Train Trial In Mathura-Palwal Section Today


NEW DELHI: Railways will run the Spanish train Talgo at a maximum speed of upto 180 km per hour during the second phase trial today from Mathura station.

The second phase trial will be held between Mathura and Palwal stations on July 9, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

Earlier trial was carried out between Bareilly and Moradabad stations last month.

A team of Spanish officials along with railways officials and experts from Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) will be present onboard during the nine-coach Talgo train trial.


Talgo coaches are lightweight and designed in a way that it can run on curves without decelerating the speed.

"The trial will continue till July 26 and various aspects will be observed during the trial run," the official said.

After the successful launch of semi-high speed Gatimaan Express, Talgo trial is being conducted as part of railways strategy to increase the speed of trains.

The nine-coach Talgo train consists of two Executive Class cars, four Chair Cars, a cafeteria, a power car and a tail-end coach for staff and equipment.

Hauled by a 4,500 HP diesel engine, Talgo train ran at a speed ranging between 80-115 km per hour during the first trial.

The trial will be conducted with empty coaches and after filling those with sand bags. The testing team will be in the coaches during trials.

Besides speed, testing team will also take note of vibration, safety and stability of lightweight coaches during the trial and these technical parametres were vital for high speed run.

About the earlier trial results, the official said report is under preparation with analysis of various technical data.

However, he said though the preliminary report is okay there will also be a final trial between Mumbai-Delhi route before finalising the report.

Shipped from Barcelona, the Talgo aluminium coaches anchored at Mumbai port on April 21.

The Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express runs at an average speed of 85 km per hour while the Talgo train can maintain an average speed of 125 km per hour. Talgo envisages the journey between Delhi and Mumbai can be completed in about 12 hours as compared to 17 hours at present.

Besides reducing travel time, Talgo's lighter trains consume 30 per cent less energy.

The Railways has set up a Mobility Directorate to work on strategies to increase speed of trains. Gatimaan Express - India's first semi-high speed that clocks 160 kmph, was launched on the Delhi-Agra route in April.

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/talgo-train-trial-in-mathura-palwal-section-today-1429545


@Roybot @PARIKRAMA @Abingdonboy @Ankit Kumar @GURU DUTT @dadeechi @Tridibans @kaykay @nair @Ryuzaki @Robinhood Pandey

 

[Roybot]

Talgo Train Trial In Mathura-Palwal Section Today


NEW DELHI: Railways will run the Spanish train Talgo at a maximum speed of upto 180 km per hour during the second phase trial today from Mathura station.

The second phase trial will be held between Mathura and Palwal stations on July 9, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

Earlier trial was carried out between Bareilly and Moradabad stations last month.

A team of Spanish officials along with railways officials and experts from Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) will be present onboard during the nine-coach Talgo train trial.


Talgo coaches are lightweight and designed in a way that it can run on curves without decelerating the speed.

"The trial will continue till July 26 and various aspects will be observed during the trial run," the official said.

After the successful launch of semi-high speed Gatimaan Express, Talgo trial is being conducted as part of railways strategy to increase the speed of trains.

The nine-coach Talgo train consists of two Executive Class cars, four Chair Cars, a cafeteria, a power car and a tail-end coach for staff and equipment.

Hauled by a 4,500 HP diesel engine, Talgo train ran at a speed ranging between 80-115 km per hour during the first trial.

The trial will be conducted with empty coaches and after filling those with sand bags. The testing team will be in the coaches during trials.
View attachment 316426

Besides speed, testing team will also take note of vibration, safety and stability of lightweight coaches during the trial and these technical parametres were vital for high speed run.

About the earlier trial results, the official said report is under preparation with analysis of various technical data.

However, he said though the preliminary report is okay there will also be a final trial between Mumbai-Delhi route before finalising the report.

Shipped from Barcelona, the Talgo aluminium coaches anchored at Mumbai port on April 21.

The Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express runs at an average speed of 85 km per hour while the Talgo train can maintain an average speed of 125 km per hour. Talgo envisages the journey between Delhi and Mumbai can be completed in about 12 hours as compared to 17 hours at present.

Besides reducing travel time, Talgo's lighter trains consume 30 per cent less energy.

The Railways has set up a Mobility Directorate to work on strategies to increase speed of trains. Gatimaan Express - India's first semi-high speed that clocks 160 kmph, was launched on the Delhi-Agra route in April.
View attachment 316425

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/talgo-train-trial-in-mathura-palwal-section-today-1429545


@Roybot @PARIKRAMA @Abingdonboy @Ankit Kumar @GURU DUTT @dadeechi @Tridibans @kaykay @nair

What locomotive will they be using? WAP 5?

 

[anant_s]

What locomotive will they be using? WAP 5?

Yes WAP 5.

& here is what they are planning
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Mathura-Palwal leg will see the train's speed being gradually increased by 10 kilometres per hour till the rake reaches a peak speed of 180kmph. The varying speeds will give the railways an idea of firstly the lateral movement of the train and secondly its Emergency Barking Distance (EBD). The latter is of utmost importance, said officials, as India's vast railway network comprises of trains of varying speeds, tracks moving close to heavy residential areas and most of these tracks having their continuity broken by level crossings and other traffic impediments.

The third phase will be a time-testing trial of the train and it will be conducted over the Mumbai to Delhi route, which is the route the railways plan to deploy this train on if all goes according to plan and if at all 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 July," 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 save several hours on the Mumbai-Delhi route where the Rajdhani trains currently run at an average speed of 85 kmph.

A joint team of the Railway Design Standards Organisation (RDSO), representatives from the Railway Board and Spanish train manufacturer Talgo are conducting the trials.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-mumbai-delhi-leg-of-talgo-trial-by-mid-august-2232209
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope to post some pictures from trial shortly.

 

[Tshering22]

Railways is doing a superb job under Suresh Prabhu ji.

He is the best Railways Minister India has had in history. I only hope the tracks are being upgraded simultaneously considering that the tracks laid out in many parts of the country are more than half a century old.

 

[Roybot]

Yes WAP 5.

& here is what they are planning
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Mathura-Palwal leg will see the train's speed being gradually increased by 10 kilometres per hour till the rake reaches a peak speed of 180kmph. The varying speeds will give the railways an idea of firstly the lateral movement of the train and secondly its Emergency Barking Distance (EBD). The latter is of utmost importance, said officials, as India's vast railway network comprises of trains of varying speeds, tracks moving close to heavy residential areas and most of these tracks having their continuity broken by level crossings and other traffic impediments.

The third phase will be a time-testing trial of the train and it will be conducted over the Mumbai to Delhi route, which is the route the railways plan to deploy this train on if all goes according to plan and if at all 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 July," 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 save several hours on the Mumbai-Delhi route where the Rajdhani trains currently run at an average speed of 85 kmph.

A joint team of the Railway Design Standards Organisation (RDSO), representatives from the Railway Board and Spanish train manufacturer Talgo are conducting the trials.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-mumbai-delhi-leg-of-talgo-trial-by-mid-august-2232209
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope to post some pictures from trial shortly.

Looking forward to it! Just yesterday I read an article posted on SSC forum that the Gatimaan Express has been plagued by problems? Frequent delays, technical snags and such?

 

[HariPrasad]

Current effort to increase speed to 160-200 km/h Edit

Indian Railways aims to increase the speed of passenger trains to 160–200 km/h on dedicated conventional tracks. They intend to improve their existing conventional lines to handle speeds of up to 160 km/h, with a goal of speeds above 200 km/h on new tracks with improved technology.[10]

In February 2014, Henri Poupart-Lafarge of Alstom, manufacturer of trains used on TGV in France, stated that India is at least 5–10 years away from high-speed trains. He suggested the country should first upgrade the infrastructure to handle trains travelling 100 to 120 km/hr.[11]

In July 2014, a trial run of a "semi-high speed train" with 10 coaches and 2 generators reached a speed of 160 km/h between New Delhi and Agra, but no date has been set for commercial operations.[12] The train, named Gatimaan Express, had its first commercial run at 5 April 2016.It is expected to reach the maximum speed of 160 kmph and an average speed of 113 kmph.[13]


Dedicated Freight Corridors
Initially the trains will have the maximum speed of 160 km/h, with railway coaches which can run at the speed of 200 km/h will be rolled out from Railway Coach Factory of Indian Railway from June, 2015.[14]

Current Semi-high speed systems Edit
Recently just in the start of 2016 India has inaugurated the semi high speed rail system in India . Gatiman Express is India's first semi high speed train and also the fastest train of India till date which runs at the top speed of 160 km/hr from Delhi to Agra . After the Inauguration of Gatimaan express on 5 April 2016 by honourable Railway minister of India Mr Suresh Prabhu has marked as a starting point of semi high speed rail system in India . Now India is proud to have a semi high speed rail system . After the great success of Gatmaan Express and due to high public support the Government of India is planning to start these trains on Delhi - Bhopal / Chandigarh / Kanpur / Lucknow sections shotly.[15][16] Railway minister Mr Sadananda Gowda[17] mentioned in his Rail budget 2014 speech that the railways are going to start high speed trains at 160–200 km/h on 9 routes.[18] But as of 2015, no semi-high speed trains are running in Indian Railway network.



Projects
CONTRACT AWARDED FOR THE CONSULTANCY OF FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR DIAMOND QUADRILATERAL NETWORK OF HIGH SPEED RAIL CORRIDORS
a) Delhi-Mumbai (Package-I)
Feasibility Study Contract awarded to a Consortium of M/s The Third Railway Survey and Design Institute Group Corporation (CHINA) and Lahmeyer International (India) Pvt. Ltd, India
b) Mumbai-Chennai (Package-II)
Feasibility Study Contract awarded to a Consortium of M/s SYSTRA (FRANCE) - RITES- Ernest &Young LLP.

Gatiman express have already run at a speed of 160 KM sustained speed. Videos are available on you tube.

My plan for semi high speed train.

1) Shape engine aerodynamically.
2) modify the tracks by removing the sharp turns. All the turns should be less than 5* of curve. This is what needed to run the train at semi high speed.
3) Make adjustable (Little flexible ) Wheels in the train. (China has started the research)

If above is done , we can run the trains at 200 to 250 KMPH. Engine power is not the constrain. We are soon going to have 10000 HP engines manufactured in india.