(This story originally appeared in on Jul 14, 2016)

AGRA: A lightweight train manufactured by a Spanish firm clocked 180kmph during the second phase of high-speed trials between Mathura and Palwal on Wednesday, covering a distance of 86km in just 39 minutes. In the process, it shattered the record by an Indian train -previously held by Gatimaan Express, at 160kmph.The successful trial, supervised by engineers from the Spanish firm, Talgo, and Research Design & Standards Organisation, Lucknow, was conducted with nine empty coaches hauled by a Varanasi-made 4,500-HP diesel engine.Sandbags will be placed on seats to simulate passenger weight in the next trial to be conducted between Mumbai and New Delhi. It will aim at a top speed of 220kmph, Dilip Kumar Singh, additional divisional railway manager of Agra, said. Talgo is a leading Madrid based manufacturer of semihigh speed (160-250kmph) and high-speed (350kmph) passenger trains. Its coaches are lightweight -made of aluminium -and designed to run along curves without decelerating. They weigh much less than the average Indian Railways coaches and also consume 30% less energy.“Today's successful achievement is a major milestone in the history of railways and it takes us closer to our dreams of having high-speed train service on the existing railway tracks,“ Dilip Kumar Singh, additional divisional railway manager (ADRM) of Agra, said.“The feeling of the train running at such a high speed was amazing. Before the trial, we were a bit worried about the performance of the coaches at 180kmph, but they ran exceptionally well, including on curves,“ said Vivek Sharma, second loco pilot in the engine of the train. Sharma has an experience of over 26 years as a train driver.Lead pilot Sunil Kumar Pathak was the other driver in the train and had, literally, a front-row seat during the record-breaking trial.“For me, the most striking part of the journey was the fact that an Indian diesel engine pulled the coaches at 180kmph, a feat which no locomotive engine manufactured in the country had accomplished so far,“ said Pathak, who has been a train driver since 1985.The train, comprising two executive class cars, four chair cars, a cafeteria, a power car and a tail-end coach for staff and equipment, ran continuously at 180 kmph from Bhuteshwar to Rundhi stations, covering the distance in 39 minutes.In the first phase of the trials held from May 29, the Spanish coaches were pulled at speeds between 80 and 115kmph between Bareilly and Moradabad, a distance of 90 km.