In less than a year, the Indian Railways are set to modify coaches of 140 rakes running on 132 (66 pairs) routes across India. These will be at par with the country's best Rajdhani Express, officials said.
The Railway Board first gave the approval on April 3, following which meetings happened. Railway officials in Mumbai said that they started initial work earlier this month as planning needs to be done.
Of the total, there will be 11 rakes on 12 routes of Mumbai Central Railway and 20 rakes on 14 routes of Mumbai Western Railway which shall undergo modification in the days to come.
"We want to provide amenities to passengers which they would enjoy only in trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi. We have included these 140 rakes under 'Project Utkrisht'," said R Gupta, Member Rolling Stock, Railway Board. He is the top boss who decides on rakes and locomotives which operate on Indian Railways.
"By June, we will start uploading Google sheet that shall be directly monitored by the Railway Board. All the 140 rakes will be refurbished at a cost of Rs 60 lakh each by March 2019," said a senior railway official.
Sources said that as per the plans drawn by Railway Board; there would be modifications that will include vinyl wrapping of the coaches, equipping coaches with fire extinguishers, information posters, braille signage, changing of the torn seats, compressed cushioned seats, dustbins inside coaches and adequate maintenance along with inspection in every two hours for on-board cleanliness inside the train.
The railways are already replacing the coaches of long distance trains with LHB ones from those manufactured at Integral Coach Factory. These LHB coaches are the ones which are attached in Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express trains.
"The modification of both the trains will begin soon. Deccan Queen will be ready by August 15," said a senior CR official. Modification work on the LTT-Madgaon double decker express will be completed by December 2018.
UPGRADATION
On Board cleanliness:
- GPS tagged attendance of staff
- Cleaning of toilets every two hours
- Garbage bag in dustbins and its regular cleaning
Coach interiors:
- Single colour rexine for seats and torn ones to be replaced
- Toilet indication to be provided in AC coaches
- Good curtains and fire extinguishers inside coaches
Toilets:
- Proper ventilation and auto janitor inside to avoid foul odour
- Improved flushing valves
- LED lights inside
