Improvement of coaches is a continuous process and Indian Railways has taken several steps in this regard. The maintenance of coaches have been undertaken for superfast trains like Tejas, Humsafar Express and other Mail/Express trains Indian Railways says it is leaving no stone unturned in improving the conditions of trains in order to render a smooth travel experience for its passengers. The Railway Ministry has taken several initiatives for the improvement of old coaches in various trains and also launching new affordable train services. Recently, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State of Railways, Rajen Gohain stated that improvement of coaches is a continuous process and Indian Railways has taken several steps in this regard. The initiatives for the maintenance of coaches have involved a number of steps, from launching premium superfast trains like Tejas Express, Humsafar Express to Project Utkrisht, under which Mail/Express trains are being updated. We take a look at all the initiatives which the Railway Ministry has enlisted in this endeavour:

1) Indian Railways boasts of several premium and superfast train services like Humsafar Express, Tejas Express, Antyodaya, UDAY, Mahamana, Gatimaan Express. The interiors and coaches of these trains are being continuously monitored and maintained. Moreover, modern coaches like Deen Dayalu and Anubhuti, which have already improved the coach interiors and exteriors for several trains have been introduced in general service.

2) Under Railway Ministry’s Project Swarn, 14 Rajdhani and 15 Shatabdi train services have been upgradded on several parameters. These upgraded dimensions include coach interiors, toilets, on board cleanliness, staff behaviour, catering, linen, punctuality, security and on-board entertainment. Project Swarn was started to upgrade the condition of Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express trains and its main objective is to give an improved and developed look to the train coaches.

3) Under Project Utkrisht, Indian Railways plans to give the Mail/Express trains a swanky revamp. Accordingly under this project, the development of 640 rakes of Mail/Express trains in divisions has been taken up from this year in this regard. The project aims to provide a facelift to both, the interiors and exterior of the train’s rakes.

4) All the Indian Railway coaches are given periodic maintenance as per the norms and protocols. Accordingly, all the safety and amenity fittings of train coaches are being examined for facilitating good working conditions and defective components are being repaired or replaced. During maintenance rounds, the proper cleaning with full watering of all coaches is also ensured.

5) Constructive systems of shelf life are being put in place in order to ensure that those passenger coaches which have completed their prescribed service life, are no longer allowed for train services in Indian Railways.

6) Indian Railways has also planned to upgrade the interiors of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) design coaches. In the ICF coaches, new interiors with different pleasing colours, aesthetically designed fittings, solid panelling, improved toilets are being implemented in some selected existing coaches. All this is being done by renovating them during Mid-Life Rehabilitation (MLR).

7) As prescribed in the maintenance manuals and instructions of Ministry of Railways, periodic overhauling (POH) is done for all coaches running on Indian Railways. During the POH of coaches, the repair of seats and berths is undertaken by the POH workshops under this initiative. Additionally, during depot maintenance, seats are also being changed or replaced in case of any requirement.

Courtesy by : Financial Express