The Tiruchi Railway Division had been given a new self-propelled Accident Relief Medical Van for deployment during emergency situation.
Manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, the three-coach formation has adequate space to store medicines, tools, and other paraphernalia besides separate rooms for medical experts and para-medical staff. A striking feature of the Accident Relief Train is an air-conditioned operation theatre room inside.
The formation will be stationed at Tiruchi Junction and moved to the accident spot quickly as and when required. Unlike the earlier conventional Accident Relief Train which needed a separate locomotive to chug the formation, the latest one is a self-propelled train with power cars at both ends.
In the conventional train, the loco would have to be moved to either of the end to pull the formation. The self-propelled formation could be operated both ways with only loco pilots having to move to either of the end, say railway officials.
The train is also equipped with a generator to provide uninterrupted power to the formation while dealing with emergency situation. Officials say one portion of the power car has space to store important tools including cold cutting device used while evacuating passengers from a train which met with an accident.
The medical relief van would be moved to the accident spot to provide immediate treatment to the injured passengers, says an officer. The new train would be put to speed trial run in the Tiruchi – Vriddhachalam broad gauge section at 105 kilometres per hour before it is deployed for actual operation.
