Indian Railways Move Forward To Redesign Coaches To LHB Coaches

Ministry of Railways                      04-May, 2016 17:53 IST

RDSO (Research Designs and Standards Organisation) and Design centers of coach Production Units of Indian Railways have undertaken few major projects for re-designing of coach sub-assemblies and components.

Following is the list of projects: -

·         Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) Air-Conditioned (AC) coach to LHB non-AC variant coaches viz. LHB non-AC Sleeper, and LHB second class sitting coaches.

·         LHB AC single deck Chair Car coach to LHB AC Double Decker Chair Car coach with higher carrying capacity.

·         LHB Power Car to LHB luggage cum Guard Van with underslung Diesel alternator set.

·         Non-AC Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) rakes to AC EMU rakes for Mumbai suburban area.

·         Mainline Electric Multiple Unit/Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU/DEMU) Trailer Coaches (TC) without toilet to TC jcoaches with toilets.

·         Diesel fuel based Power Car for DEMU to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuel based Power Car.

·         General DEMU coaches to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) DEMU coaches with modified seating layout and heating arrangement.

·         Redesigning of interiors of conventional Integral Coach Factory (ICF) design coaches to develop model rake coaches inducted in Mahamana Express.

While no specific allocation is made for research on re-design of coaches, under Plan Head Railway Research, around ₹ 2.81 crores were allotted by RDSO in the last 3 years, i.e., 2013-14 to 2015-16 for development of various design related projects. National Institute of Design has not yet designed any coach for Indian Railways. Indian Railways had rolled out LHB type coaches under Transfer of Technology agreement with M/s Alstom, Germany. These coaches with superior interiors, are much safer and have higher speed potential of upto 160 kmph. Around 3150 coaches have already been inducted into service. Indian Railways have planned for introduction of modern, State-of- Art distributed powered 15 EMU train sets having sleeper coaches or chair cars. These train sets will reduce journey time with better riding experience.

The LHB coaches, designed on German technology, have inbuilt safety and comfort features that are comparable to world class standards. The Railways is expected to take a large scale migration to these LHB coaches from ICF coaches.