The Indian Railways has rolled out the first prototype of the much-awaited Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) AC three-tier economy class coach.
In a statement, the Ministry of Railways said that these LHB Economy class coaches, after necessary sanctions, shall be inducted in all mail on express trains running with LHB coaches (except Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, and Jan Shatabdi special type trains).
The Ministry further stated that the Indian Railways Production Unit, Railway Coach Factory, Kapurthala has recently rolled out the first prototype LHB AC three-tier economy class coach of and the trial has been successfully completed.
As per the report, this coach will have 83 berths instead of the existing 64 present in the current 3-Tier coaches. These will be 11 more than the berths in the Sleeper Class. Despite the added capacity, the passenger comfort has not been compromised and the added space has been created by moving the main electrical control to the coach’s underslung.
AC ducting providing individual vents for all berths and modular design of seats and berths to improve comfort, reduced weight, and higher maintainability have also been added in the coach.
The new coach has also improved passenger conveniences in the form of foldable snack tables in both longitudinal and transverse bays, injury-free spaces, and holders for water bottles, mobile phones, and magazines.
Individual reading lights and mobile charging points for each berth have also provided.
The new coach has improved the design of the ladder for accessing the middle and upper berths, along with increased headroom in the middle and upper berths.
“There is provision of an enabling entrance and compartment for Divyangjan with wheelchair access and provision of Divyangjan friendly toilet with wheelchair access complying to Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan norms,” the statement added.
These coaches built on an LHB livery are capable of running at the speed of 160 kmph. These will permit the Railways to run the trains at 160 kmph on the Golden Quadrilateral. Currently, ICF coaches prevent Railways from running non-premium trains at more than 110 kmph.
The fares in these coaches will be priced between the existing tariffs of Sleeper and 3-Tier coaches.
With IANS Inputs