Railway Coach Factory / Kapurthala has recently rolled out the first prototype Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) AC three-tier economy class coach of Indian Railways (IR). Trial has been successfully completed.

This is a new variant of LHB AC three-tier coach with features enumerated as below:-

1. Electrical panels with reduced footprint on the passenger deck, releasing additional floor space for passenger use.
2. Increased Passenger capacity of 83 Berths.
3. 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.
4. AC ducting by providing individual vents for all berths.
5. Modular design of seats and berths to improve comfort, reduced weight and higher maintainability.
6. Improved passenger conveniences in form of foldable snack tables in both longitudinal and transverse bays, injury free spaces and holders for water bottles, mobile phone and magazines.
7. Individual reading lights and mobile charging points for each berth.
8. Ergonomically improved design of ladder for accessing the middle and upper berths.
9. Increased headroom in the middle and upper berths.
10. Improved design of the Indian and the Western style lavatories.
11. Aesthetically pleasing and ergonomic entrance.
12. Luminescent aisle markers.
13. Illuminated berth indicators integral with night lights with luminescent berth numbers.
14. Improved fire safety standards by ensuring compliance to world benchmark of EN45545-2 HL3 for materials.

These LHB Economy class coaches, after necessary sanctions, shall be inducted in all Mail / Express trains running with LHB coaches (except Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto and Jan Shatabdi etc. special type trains).

Several other steps have been taken by IR to provide more comfort to train passengers. Some of them are listed below:-

1. State-of-the-Art Vande Bharat services have been introduced between New Delhi – Varanasi and New Delhi- Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra. These trains have ultra modern features like quick acceleration, on board infotainment and Global Positioning System (GPS) based passenger information system, automatic sliding doors, retractable footsteps and Zero discharge vacuum bio toilets etc.
2. Various premium train services like Humsafar, Tejas, Antyodaya, Utkrisht Double Decker Air-conditioned Yatri (UDAY), Mahamana and coaches like Deen Dayalu and Anubhuti, which have upgraded interiors / exteriors and improved passenger amenities, have been introduced in service in various train services over Indian Railways (IR).
3. IR has decided to proliferate Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches, which are technologically superior and have better riding, aesthetics and safety features than conventional Integral Coach Factory (ICF) type coaches. Production Units of IR have stopped the manufacturing of ICF type coaches and are manufacturing only LHB coaches from the year 2018-19 onwards.
4. Vistadome coaches provide panoramic view, through wider body side windows as well as through transparent sections in the roof, thus enabling the passengers to enjoy the scenic beauty of the places through which they travel. Recently, Vistadome coaches on LHB platform have been manufactured with several modern features / amenities.
5. IR had also launched Project Utkrisht in April 2018 in order to improve the condition of ICF type coaches running in Mail / Express trains. Upgradation of 447 rakes of Mail / Express trains has been completed till December 2020 under Project Utkrisht.
6. Under Project Swarn, 65 rakes of Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains have been upgraded across multiple dimensions, which include coach interiors, toilets, onboard cleanliness, staff behaviour, linen, etc.
7. 63 smart coaches with ultra modern features like Smart Public address and passenger information system, Smart HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system), Smart security and surveillance system etc. have been manufactured and introduced in service.
8. Conversion of End-On-Generation (EOG) trains into Head-On-Generation (HOG) trains has been done to reduce noise and air pollution at stations and in trains. This is expected to significantly reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.
9. Conventional lighting in coaches is being replaced with modern and energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights.
10. Increased number of mobile charging points are also being provided in coaches.
11. With a view to further fortify the security system, in addition to CCTV Cameras and Emergency Talk Back System, Flasher lights have also been provided in ladies coaches in EMU rakes in South Eastern Railway. When the alarm chain of the coach will be pulled, these lights will start blinking and buzzer will start sounding till resetting of alarm chain.

This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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DJN/MKV