Spanish firm Talgo will carry out free trial run of its high speed trains between Mumbai and Delhi

#Talgo Japanese Bullet trains might face competition from high speed trains manufactured by Spanish firm Talgo - it would be undertaking free trial runs at speeds between 160 and 200 kmph on the existing tracks between Delhi and Mumbai. Based in the results of the trial runs, the railways will consider introduction of high speed trains on other routes too.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 7 February 2016.

Talgo will conduct the time validation trial on Delhi-Mumbai corridor soon. The firm has offered to test run their lighter and faster trains free of cost. Talgo will be issued necessary permission letter after getting the approval of the Railway Board for import of the rake to India. Talgo will not charge anything for the trials.
Once approved, the rake will be imported in knocked down condition and subsequently assembled in India.
In case the Talgo train can run at speeds varying between 160 and 200 kmph on the existing infrastructure without any upgrade, the travel time between the two cities could reduce by nearly 12 hours - at present it takes 17 hours.
Moreover, Talgo's lighter trains consume 30 per cent less energy and this will help the railways to cut down on their power bill. Incidentally, Talgo trains are already running in several places in Asia and the US.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Abhi Shake for industries to boost Bengal’s image (satire)

Rum Mudda reminds Moody about temples (satire)

Didi is allergic to anything red (satire)


Odisha offers windsurfing, snorkeling and other water sports on the Mahanadi River

Goat farming brings joy to people of Nag Tibba in Tehri

Foods that help to lower cholesterol levels and control heart disease


“The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar” - Disney’s upcoming television movie

'Avatar 2', sequel to 'Avatar' of 2009 expected to release in December 2017

Aamir Khan no longer the face of Incredible India


Bomb attack kills 9 persons in Cairo near road leading to Egyptian pyramids

Woman with fake passport in a British Airways flight from Ibiza leads to panic

Tourists to Morocco told by Foreign Office to be vigilant about possible terror attacks

India wants bullet trains – who will win the race for bullets - China or Japan?

The war for bullets is hotting up – India wants bullet rains and both China and Japan are strong contenders. But, Japan has the advantage because it is willing to offer finance at 1% interest to finance India's first bullet train. The estimated cost would be $15 billion.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 22 October 2015.

Tokyo was picked to assess the feasibility of building the 505-Km corridor linking Mumbai with Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state. It has concluded that such a bullet train would be technically and financially viable.
The projects would be a part of a 'Diamond Qaudrilateral' of high speed trains over 10,000-Km of track that India is keen to set up to connect Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Japan has offered to meet 80 per cent of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project cost, provided India agrees to buy 30 per cent of equipment including the coaches and locomotives from Japanese firms.
Japan's International Cooperation Agency JICA, which led the feasibility survey, has indicated that the journey time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad would be cut to two hours from seven. And, the route would require 11 new tunnels – one of these would be an undersea tunnel near Mumbai.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting links -

Fossils and eggshells of baby dinosaurs found in Gobi Desert

Parama Island flyover adds to traffic jams in Kolkata – made one-way

Future of street foods in Delhi bleak - Delhi bans cooking on roads


Arnold Schwarzenegger could play in Rajinikanth-starrer 'Enthiran 2'

Emma Roberts and her horror-comedy series "Scream Queens"

India is one of 81 countries vying for Best Foreign Film in the 88th Academy Awards


Despite US airstrikes, ISIS still makes £300-million a year from oil

Syrian gang caught trying to smuggle 20-tonnes of cannabis worth £150million into Europe

US airdrops 50-tons of ammunition for M-16s and AK-47 to Syrian fighters


Durga Puja in Kolkata housing complexes

Durga Puja and cultural programs

The pandal hoppers of Kolkata

Bullet trains in India – railway officers getting trained in Italy on the nitty-gritty of the new era

India has mentally prepared to welcome bullet trains into the country and, in order to learn the system of handling such a sophisticated setup, officials of the Indian Railways have been sent to Italy to learn all there is to know about track maintenance, the security aspects and other infrastructure required for such trains.
The first batch of 30 divisional railway managers (DRMs) have left on 6 September for a 15-day specially-designed course at SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 18 September 2015.

The delegation, which includes DRMs of Izzat Nagar division, Bareilly, Lucknow and Firozpur, will gain expertise in running these trains at SDA Bocconi school of Management in Milan. Obviously, these are the areas where high-speed trains are scheduled to run.
It is understood that the decision of the government is to introduce high-speed trains on Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Chennai and Lucknow-Delhi routes in the first phase. Subsequently, it would be extended to other routes.
Moreover, a site in Bareilly, along with two others in North India, have been identified for setting up a factory to manufacture high-speed train engines. 'Achhe din' on the cards for Uttar Pradesh.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-

ASI hikes entry fees to Taj Mahal by 200%

Heavy rains lash Pune, trains cancelled, passengers stranded for hours in trains

Bangalore does not want people to feed pigeons in Cubbon Park


NBA Superstar 7ft 2in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to publish novel on Mycroft Holmes, elder brother of Sherlock Holmes

Priyanka Chopra and Monica Dogra nominated by VH1for Europe Music Awards 2015

John Abraham and Sonakshi Sinha shoot ‘Force 2’ in Ethnographic Museum Budapest


Death toll rises to 193 in fuel tanker explosion in South Sudan

Taliban attacks mosque in Peshawar Air Force base and leaves 20 dead

Russia sends fighter jets to Syria to bolster Assad’s defenses


36-days for Durga Puja and the dhakis get ready

Industries just do not gel with West Bengal

Bengalis are daydreamers tied to mothers’ apron strings

Number 139 for Railway Inquiry is unreliable – can land you in trouble

139 is supposed to be a unique number which any one can dial to get the latest formation on running of trains of the Indian Railways. It is a premium service because one has to shell out Rs 2 per call and the reply in the form of an SMS costs Rs 3. It is supposed to provide latest information on the arrival or departure of trains apart from information on cancellation of trains.
But, sadly, the information furnished is, at times, incorrect and the general impression among those who have used it is that it is leaves one in doubt about the credibility of the information furnished by the service which is not kept updated on a real time basis.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 16 July 2015.

There have been instances when one arrived at the station to find that he has missed the train because it has already left. Or – when receiving guests, one reaches the station to discover that the guest has been waiting at the station for quite some time!!
India is rolling out the red carpet to welcome Bullet Trains – but with such a state of affairs with ‘139’, one wonders what the future scenario would be like.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -
Revolution in the skies - Airbus flies electric plane E-Fan across the English Channel

CBSE to check cheating in AIPMT exams – examinees can wear only T-shirt and jeans

Nine-year-old boy of Philippines studies in the light from a McDonald’s restaurant

Drone hovering over TISS campus in Mumbai sets off alarms

Typhoon Chan-hom strikes eastern coast of China with wind speeds of 173-Kmph


Boko Haram going the way of ISIS – releases first beheading video

US drone strike has killed top ISIS leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan?

Parents of 14-year-old girl arrested for forcing her to live in the woods for eating Pop-Tart


Where are the stamp collectors and pen friends?

Religion on Indian television

Mumbai, the financial capital of India, paralyzed by heavy rains

Mumbai has no respite from monsoons and it keeps happening year in and year out. No matter which political fixation is in the saddle, none of them are able to tackle this menace of waterlogged roads and train tracks.
There are plans to run bullet trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad but, if Mumbai cannot prevent waterlogging of railway tracks, how will they handle bullet trains.
Mumbai came to a standstill this year also due to heavy rain that battered most parts of the city and threw normal life totally out of gear, simultaneously exposing the lack of preparedness of the financial capital of India. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has taken stock of the situation and has appealed to Mumbaikars not to come out of their homes unless absolute necessary.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 19 June 2015.

The heavy downpour and waterlogging have affected the train services which are considered to be the lifeline of the city. Many long-distance trains like the Deccan Queen, Panchavati Express and Pragati express from Mumbai have been cancelled. Moreover, a whole lot of trains were stuck in between CST and Kalyan.
Apart from railways, vehicular traffic has also been affected and has led to chaos across the city. Most of the flights have also been delayed.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -
Airbus to showcase its E-Fan 2.0 silent plane in Paris Air Show

Music is a great healer – listen to classical music and lower your blood pressure

Taxi strike in Kolkata opens the doors for Uber and Ola cabs

Pickles and yoghurt help youngsters to tackle social anxiety


MI5 warns – extremists on the prowl in the streets of Britain

ISIS militants ambush and kill Taliban fighters in Afghanistan

British would-be jihadists are making detour to Syria via Canada to avoid detection


How retired persons keep themselves busy

Learn to embrace the mall culture

Time weighs down heavily on retired men

Who will give India the Bullet Trains – China or Japan or both?

Delhi-Chennai bullet train - on 27 November 2014, a news report in thehindu.com indicated that China was hoping to bag the contract of a possible bullet-train deal with India along the 1,754-Km Delhi-Chennai high speed rail corridor.
In the report, it was also revealed that Japan also had its eyes on the market and had pledged to offer India a more attractive funding scheme. Moreover, based on a report there were apprehensions that the Sino-Indian partnership in the field of high-speed rail was not well-received by the Indian public.

An Indian delegation had gone to China to work out the “terms of reference” of the feasibility study. This would be undertaken by the Chinese authorities to establish a high-speed rail corridor between Delhi and Chennai. Once completed, it would reduce travel time between Delhi and Chennai to around 6 hours.
Of course, mere finalization of the study was no guarantee that the Delhi-Chennai corridor high-speed rail contract would go to a Chinese company.
Mumbai- Ahmedabad bullet train – a strong contender for this sector appears to be Japan. As reported in asia.nikkei.com dated 5 March 2015, its shinkansen bullet train technology is the leading candidate for the 500-Km bullet train that would connect the western city of Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
The Indian and Japanese governments had initiated a joint feasibility study in late 2013 before the Modi government came to power in 2014 and a final report is to be released in July 2015. As indicated by a top official in India's Ministry of Railways, Japan's technology is the best in the world and that India is hopeful of linking up with Japan to work on this project.
On a rough estimate, this link will cost 700-800 billion rupees ($11.3 billion to $12.9 billion) and would include 12 stations to be built along the route. The train is expected to have a top speed of 320-Kmph and would drastically travel time to around two and a half hours from the eight hours it takes now.

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


Pattern of death changing in India – heart and lung related diseases are top killers

Stray dogs attend funeral of Mexican woman who fed them

Nationwide ban on cow slaughter on the cards says Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh

Health tips – lose weight without dieting

Auckland girl sweet talks thief to return stolen mobile phone

Anchovies can boost good cholesterol and reduce risk factors of the heart

Death on railway tracks increasing – what will happen when Bullet trains arrive?

This should be some food for thought for the minister of railways and his team – how to reduce the growing incidences of death on the railway tracks in view of Bullet trains arriving in India. Agreed a totally new concept would have to be worked out to ensure that men and animals do not come on to the tracks and get killed. Probably a new route would need to be evolved but can the problem of men and animals wandering onto the tracks be really avoided?
The main reasons for such unfortunate deaths on railway tracks have been identified as trespassing, falling off trains, accidents and suicides. This has been revealed by a senior railway ministry official who is involved with the safety wing.
Obviously, the mindset of people need to change and, while accidents like suicides just cannot be stopped, others can be contained by proper policing and by punishing those who do not follow the rules.
As per statistics made available by the railways - there were 14,973 deaths in 2011 which increased to 16,336 in 2012 and, further to 19,997 in 2013. During 2014, the figure is 18,735 lives till October.
The railways on their part urge the passengers to use foot over-bridges and to avoid crossing of rail lines but, there have been instances when people crossing the lines get mowed down due to no fault of theirs. It could be due to surrounding atmospheric conditions like poor visibility during winter. Or – rushing to catch the train when sudden announcements are made about change in platform number of trains.

India can soon boast of bullet trains and super-fast trains

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to bring the Bullet train to India and had broached the subject with Japan and China. His railway minister Suresh Prabhu has now approached French companies to collaborate in the field of safety, customer service and services of high-speed trains.
In keeping with the philosophy of the Prime Minister to ‘make in India’, the railway minister wants French companies to 'open shop' in India because the BJP government wants to eradicate the age-old concept that it is not easy to conduct business in India is difficult.
His invite was in the curse of addressing a seminar on Indian-French railways.
He explained that the intention of the Indian Railways is to plan for collaboration in the area of developing high-speed train network because there are premium commuters who are do not mind paying a high price while wanting to reach their destination faster.
This group of commuters desires better amenities and would not grudge shelling out more.
It may be recalled that during the visit of the Prime Minister to Japan in August, the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had promised public and private investment worth $35 billion in India over the next five years. Japan had also agreed to offer financial, technical and operational support to India for introduction of bullet trains – this was a project to Narendra Modi and a high priority project high of the Indian government.
On the bullet train front China has also shown interest to participate and a team of Railway officials of the Rail Vikas Nigam are expected to go to Beijing to pursue the Delhi-Chennai high-speed corridor project – it would be 1754-Km long, the longest in India. The high-level team would complete necessary formalities with their Chinese counterparts for carrying out the feasibility study.
Obviously, the future of travel by trains in India appears to be bright – the only thing that the government needs to ensure that it does not turn out to be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. With so many countries at work to provide India the much needed platform of boasting of bullet trains, someone must ensure that there is no stepping on toes.

How to beat the pangs of hunger in trains

When anyone undertakes a long distance journey by train, he has to plan for his meals along the way – long ago there used to be separate dining cars in important long distance trains. Having breakfast or lunch or dinner in these cars was a pleasant experience but, gradually, things changed. The railways withdrew from this service and handed it over to a private entity. New trains were introduced like Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, and Duronto Express, where the cost of food was included in the fare and passengers had to accept whatever was served. The result was a whole bunch of unhappy travelers with complaints of unhygienic food.
The catering service offered through the Indian Railways left a lot to be desired. The quality of food served as well as the service has deteriorated over the years and the railway ministry is now trying to hand over the responsibility to food giants like Haldiram’s and ITC. Moreover, there are also proposals to allow travelers to book their meals from outside sources – they would need to indicate their train number and the station when they want the meal and the food would be delivered in the train.
Of course, such facilities would probably not be available to all passengers because the Indian Railways may have set its sights on Bullet Trains but the fact remains that thousands of people travel every day in unreserved coaches where they get packed in like sardines in a can. To them the important thing is to reach the destination in one piece – for quenching their thirst or beating the pangs of hunger they would have to either carry with them their own eatables or would have to depend on food outlets on the railway platforms.
Actually, that used to be the usual system that travelers relied upon earlier – they would bring with them their own home made foods in containers and consume them as and when they wished. But, the ready availability of meals in running trains changed that scenario. Such meals used to initially come in trays and gradually the trays made way for casseroles.
Moreover, local vendors board the trains with their variety of foods on offer and the atmosphere in the reserved compartments resemble that of a market place – the vendors shout to get heard and at times engage in war of words with passengers on some issue or the other. Agreed – such diversions do make for an exciting journey that may not be a comfortable one. But then, time flies by quite fast.