India's first air-conditioned double-decker train is expected to be launched on the Howrah-Dhanbad sector before the Diwali celebrations.
While a few old double-decker coaches are still operational on the Mumbai-Surat route currently, the new coaches that are built with a “crashworthy design” will also have state-of-the-art facilities for passenger comfort.
Developed at the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, eight double-decker coaches were recently brought to Howrah for conducting trial runs before the official flagging-off ceremony.
People in West Bengal had the experience of travelling in double-decker coaches when two such coaches ran between Howrah and industrial-township Durgapur as part of the Black Diamond Express.
The coaches, however, were decommissioned in the early 1980s as passengers complained of suffocation and uneasiness.
“While those travelling in the upper deck felt hot and suffocated, those travelling in the lower deck suffered from inhaling dust entering through the lower deck windows situated almost at the ground level,” a senior railway official told The Hindu on Friday.
The new coaches – built according to Eurofoma design – will accommodate 128 passengers each and can run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph due to the presence of ‘air-springs' in their under-carriages.
As the newly arrived coaches are painted in a combination of red and yellow, which neither Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee nor the railway officials liked, the coaches are expected to undergo a ‘green' makeover before its maiden journey.
The coaches with a height of 4,366 mm will be higher than the conventional LHB coaches whose height is around 3,950 mm.
The increase in height, however, can pose problems both in connection with the overhead electric wires and the height of station platforms. Incidentally, scratches have been discovered on the lower portion of two of the new coaches. They are believed to have been caused after grazing a platform.
“We are looking into the factors. While the overhead electric wiring has been modified at places, the second issue is expected to be sorted out soon,” the official said.
Keywords: double-decker train, Howrah-Dhanbad sector
Really very good and this is first of double deckchair train of our country. I appropriate it because it will help to reduce heavy rush and give low cost AC travelling
It is high time for India to invest in manufacturing High Speed Trains. It has the talent and know-how to make such strides. In alliance with private partnership and FDI, yes we can. It creates so many new jobs. It will make India in forefront in many fields such as research and development, manufacturing techniques. India needs these trains as well not as a status symbol but on need based.
No where it is written that the design is borrowed. But it says it is built according to Eurofoma design. So stop pointing fingers. Cos the engineers made this train in record 8 months. Which proves what we can do if a good leader is there to lead us.
The width of these coaches is so big, it is colliding with all the platforms. All the coaches are heavily damaged in transit from Punjab to Bengal. It has also been reported that the balance of the train is not perfect. More surprisingly railways are now cutting the edge of all the platforms by at least 1 feet in between Howrah to Dhanbad (250 Kms approx.) to run the show without a care about the safety and security of the passengers.
Government should think about privatisation of Indian railways. When other countries run superfast trains,we are happy with double decker coaches. We invested Rs 7 billion in CWG. It was not necessary.
Excellent feat by Indian rly but should also take care of maintenance of existing infrastructure for the longevity of this system.
It is a good start by Indian railways
India should build train track from Delhi to Arunachal Pradesh and run these kind of trains on that track to transfer our army and equipment during the course of war. Use all your latest innovation against countries like China and Pak. If china can run the fastest train from Bejing to Tibet, why can't India do that that.
The picture in the article seems to have coach with lower deck too low and fire accidents may also occur due to friction with platforms which are at lower height!!!
Instead of spending $7 billion on buying the CWG games of shame, India could have invested that money in building several high-speed rails. Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Pune-Bangalore in particular.
I do not understand why the design of the coaches has to be borrowed from Europe i.e. Eurofoma design. Can Indians not even design coaches??
Good lets give it a try...but what about its fare..?
It is indeed interesting to see that we are just settling small achievements like this when it is the time for dreaming big. It would be a news worthy if India develops and introduces super fast trains as fast as possible -say within two years. India has money, talent and the need. They just need to set their mind.
It is a matter of pride that Indian Railways are undergoing modernisation and revamping at a faster pace. The AC Double-Decker is a welcome sign. But, this is not enough to make the rail travel comfortable. More and more research is required to maximise the passenger comforts in trains. Similarly, such modernisation must be extended to the states outside the minister's home-state.
It is a wonderful news indeed. Authorities should consier introducing the same in MRTS in mumbai and chennai to ease the congestion.
While it is heartening to know that India is going to get air conditioned double decker coaches, it is untrue to say that it is the 'World's first' AC double decker coach as printed in the today's print edition. The TGV train in France for example is an AC double decker train that runs at nearly 450Kmph.
I would like make a correction here..Black Diamond Express use to run between Dhanbad and Howrah not Durgapur and howrah.The train still runs on the same section.
Good that double decker a/c rail coaches are now started. Already there are double decker non-air conditioned coaches running between Mumbai Central and the dimaond centre Surat. Railways have recently anounced its Vision 2020; hardly any newapaper has covered this document widely leave aside critically examining editorially whether in the current structure and financing of railways that would be realistic. There is, instead, a dreary discussion in the edit pages of whether the railway budget should continue or be merged with the general budget. Bridges await in large number to be strengthened; thousand kilometeres of tracks need strengthening. If any newspaper brings out a chart of the mileage of the trunk routes like Mumbai-Howrah, Mumbai-Delhi, Mumbai-Chennai, Mumbai-Howrah etc. it would show how much time people need to travel. Thus not only has railways been left rudderless over the years, there has been a poor critical scrutiny. Even the Planning Commission has had to complain of pending projects and call for a need to monitor them closely.
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