DNA: Mumbai: Friday, September
09, 2016.
The railways
and its various zones, especially Western Railway, might have gone on a PR
overdrive at the trials of the Spanish-built Talgo train, but it refused to
share details of the trial under a Right to Information plea filed by dna.
The Railway
Board, in its RTI reply, said the trials of Talgo were satisfactory but stalled
the details of these trials by claiming exemption under Section 8 (d) of the
RTI Act. Section 8 (d) pertains to information related to trade secrets and
intellectual property rights and the RTI exempts the disclosure of these facets
as it could harm the competitive position of a third party, in this case Talgo.
However, the
railways' reply on some other questions go a long way in dispelling some myths
of the Talgo trials. After all the Talgo trial is something the railway has
been milking as one of its biggest achievements since the National Democratic
Alliance came to power in May 2014. dna gives a lowdown on the Talgo trial
saga:
No Make in
India as of now:
Despite the
government's avowed stance on Make in India and the grand plans to make the
country a manufacturing hub, the Talgo trial does not have any Make in India
angle as of now. In a reply to DNA's query on whether the Railways has got an
assurance from Talgo that it will construct coaches in India as part of 'Make
in India' programme of the Union government, the railways replied that 'no such
assurance has been given by Talgo to the Ministry of Railways'.
Who is
bearing the cost of the trials:
Contrary to
popular public perception, the trials are being paid for by the railways and
not Talgo. The railways has so far spent Rs 2.56 crores on carrying out the
trials. The only cost Talgo has paid for is to the bring the rake from Spain to
Izzatnagar workshop of North-Eastern Railway, the latter being the start point
of the trial. The railway ministry has replied that so far Phase 1 and 2 of
safety, stability and riding assessment trials on Bareilly-Moradabad-Saharanpur
and Mathura-Palwal have been completed. Three trial runs between Mumbai and
Delhi has also been completed.
No
agreement between Railways and Talgo on testing:
Ironically in
its reply to DNA's RTI, the railways has said that there is no agreement that
has been signed between the railways and Talgo for testing the latter's rake in
India. It opens up a debate on how the idea for Talgo trials started at the
railways. After all Talgo, as well as some other Spanish train firms, signed an
agreement with the ministry of railways way back in November 2012, under the
erstwhile United Progressive Alliance (UPA) but there was not much movement on
it. However in a letter dated September 3, 2015 the railways asked the Research
Design Standards Organsation (RDSO) to examine Talgo's proposal to conduct
on-field trials of the latter's rake.
Is there
any assured purchase deal:
The railways
replied in the negative to a query on whether Talgo has been assured of a
minimum quantity of purchase as part of any agreement to test the Talgo rake in
India.
The Talgo
Mumbai-Delhi trial report:
Trial Claimed
Time Completed time Speed Unusual Occurrence Time Stoppage
First (Aug1)
12h, 47min 15h, 41min 106.52kmph Over 3 hours 30mins
Second (Aug
5) 12h, 53min 12h, 36min 130kmph 18 minutes 26mins
Third (Aug 9)
12h, 02min 12h, 07min 140kmph 12 minutes 20mins
(The trial
report is not part of the RTI and is a compilation from various railway press
statements)
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