Pune: Rail activist Bipin Gandhi, the brain behind the ‘Adarsh Coach’ in the Panchavati Express, passed away in Nashik on Wednesday following a cardiac arrest. He was 65.
Gandhi was at Nashik Road station to flag off the revamped Panchavati Express, connecting the CSMT to Manmad, Nashik, when he suffered a heart attack. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
Eyewitnesses said Gandhi, president of NGO Rail Parishad, died minutes before the train chugged into the station. “It is tragic that he could not live to see the fruits of his efforts,” a member of Rail Parishad said.
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His final rites will be performed in Nashik.
The idea of ‘Adarsh Coach’ hit Gandhi in 1981 as an ordinary commuter on the Nashik-Mumbai line. Two decades later, he founded the Rail Parishad. In 2007, Gandhi planned to introduce the ideal coach, and the Railways gave him a rake for experiment.
The C3 first class coach of the Panchavati Express was first opened to season ticket holders in March 2007.
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Besides the usual tobacco and alcohol prohibitions, travellers had to strictly maintain cleanliness, while the use of mobile phones was regulated. The journey from Nashik to Mumbai was divided into three phases, with passengers given set timings for reading and meditation. The Rail Parishad even celebrated birthdays and wedding receptions in the coach.
“Initially, rail authorities were sceptical, and some refused to comply with the rules, but people soon started following the guidelines,” Gandhi had said on the 10th anniversary of the coach last year.
The ‘Adarsh Coach’ entered the Limca Book of Records in 2012 and 2015.