 "Gatimaan Express waits for departure at Hazrat Nizamuddin")
Soon, India may host the fastest train in the world crossing 500 kilo meter per hour speed barrier.
Indian Railways is set to open up an expression of interest on September 6 for developing, constructing and running an ultra high speed railway system in India on a public private partnership basis.
Currently, Shanghai Maglev, also known as Shanghai Transrapid, is the fastest train in the world running between Beijing to Shanghai which clocks about 4331 kmph.
In Europe, AGV Italo is considered to be the most modern train with a maximum operational speed of 360 kmph. The fastest train in India is Gatimaan express, which clocks about 160 kmph.
"It is expected that the EOI will give full view of emerging technologies available in the world in this frontier area of railway technology and enable Indian railways to move to the next step of sanctioning a project," said Hemant Kumar, member mechanical of Railway Board.
Currently, ET3 Global Alliance, Hyperloop, Quadlev and SwissRapid have shown interest in the project. This comes after the Suresh Prabhu-led ministry of railways floated a tender on August 4 to explore opportunities of Maglev trains in India, which can hit 500 kmph.
Maglev is a transport method that uses magnetic levitation to move vehicles without touching the ground. A Maglev train floats above the tracks on a "cushion" of magnetic field.
A vehicle can travel along a guideway using magnets to create both lift and propulsion, thereby reducing friction by a great extent and allowing high speeds.
Magnets on the track push and lift the train up in the air by about 1 inch to 6 inches. These "track" magnets are controlled by computers which keep shifting forward the magnetic force of the"track" so that the vehicle is pulled forward.
