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Republic Day 2013
H.C. Kunwar*
Double Decker coaches were first introduced on Indian Railways in 1975 mainly aimed
at providing higher carrying capacity in short distance commuter trains.
The intended objective of Indian Railways was achieved but these Non-Air
Conditioned coaches could not become very popular among commuters.
The main reason was that they had to face lot of dust ingress from the low
level windows of the lower deck and the view outside was also not very pleasant
at the platform level height. With
these concerns, proliferations of Non-AC double deckers on Indian Railways was not
pursued further.
With past experience at hand, Indian Railways
once again conceived double deckers but this time in Air Conditioned configuration
that could address the problems faced in Non-AC variants and the first announcement
for introduction of AC Double Deckers was made by the Minister of Railways in the
Rail Budget 2009.
Considering the existing fixed structures like
Road-over-bridges, Foot-over-bridges, electrical traction equipment etc. across
the entire length and breadth of Railways, it was a real challenge to design a double
decker coach without raising the overall height.
This challenge was further compounded by the fact that air-conditioning equipment
and air-ducts are also to be provided within the same envelope.
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Taking it as a mission, a team of design engineers
of Indian Railways started the development process of putting more coach per coach
and that too, totally in-house. Their
ingenuity was proved when Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala a production unit of Indian
Railways, was ready with the first prototype AC Double Decker in a record time of
only nine months. After all mandatory
tests in the field, the first AC double decker train was introduced on Indian Railways
between Howrah and Dhanbad in October 2011.
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Now further, an improved design of such train has been developed
and its services between Jaipur and Delhi and Ahmedabad and Mumbai have been introduced.
Such services are also planned between Habibganj-Indore and Chennai-Bangalore in
near future. AC double decker train with improved passenger friendly design is having
capacity of 120 passengers per coach compared
to 78 passengers in Shatabdi Chair cars
thus increasing the capacity by more than 50
per cent. The AC double decker train,
with low fares, has brought the comfort of AC travel within the bounds of many wannabe
passengers and is becoming popular among passengers.
The new air-conditioned coaches have many technical
features like light weight stainless steel body with aesthetically pleasing interiors. Eurofima design bogies with air springs
provide superior ride quality. For
safety of the passengers, couplers with anti-climbing features and shells with crashworthy
structure have been introduced. This
design was substantially lower tare weight per passenger, thus making them highly
energy efficient.
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The overall height of these coaches is only marginally
higher (4.5 inches) because the space for two decks has been managed by optimally
using the well area between the two wheeled bogies.
Latest design software was used in the development process and it was extensively
validated through virtual prototyping before taking up actual manufacturing.
The successful development of AC Double Decker
Coach is a clear illustration of Indian Railways’ prowess in development of technology
and its resolve to meet the expectations of an aspiring nation.
(PIB Feature).
*****
*Deputy Director (Media & Communication), Ministry
of Railways.
SS-25/SF-25/28-01-2013
RTS/HSN
(Release ID :91853)