Lok Sabha Question No. 2598 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-10
Subject: Economy Class Coach
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ganesan Selvam, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Gautham Sigamani Pon, C.N. Annadurai, Dhanush M Kumar, Arvind Ganpat Sawant

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2598 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.03.2021

## ECONOMY CLASS COACH

2598.   SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  Indian  Railways  has  rolled  out  its  first  AC  three-tier economy class coach recently and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  facilities  to  be  provided  in  these  economy  class coaches  will  be  on  par  with  other  AC  three-tier  class  coaches and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether this economy class coach will be introduced in all the routes and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  provide  more comfort to train passengers by developing world class infrastructure?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMERCE & INDUSTRY AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2598  BY  SHRI  SELVAM  G.,  SHRI GAJANAN  KIRTIKAR,  SHRI  GAUTHAM  SIGAMANI  PON,  SHRI  C.N. ANNADURAI, SHRI DHANUSH  M. KUMAR  AND SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.03.2021 REGARDING ECONOMY CLASS COACH

(a): Yes, Sir. 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).

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

- i. Electrical  panels  with  reduced  footprint  on  the  passenger deck, releasing additional floor space for passenger use.
2. ii.
3. Increased Passenger capacity of 83 Berths.
- iii. 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.
5. iv.
6. AC ducting by providing individual vents for all berths.
- v. Modular  design  of  seats  and  berths  to  improve  comfort, reduced weight and higher maintainability.
- vi. 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.
9. Individual  reading  lights  and  mobile  charging  points  for  each
- vii. berth.
11. Ergonomically  improved  design  of  ladder  for  accessing  the
- viii. middle and upper berths.
- ix. Increased headroom in the middle and upper berths.
- x. Improved design of the Indian and the Western style lavatories.
- xi. Aesthetically pleasing and ergonomic entrance.
16. xii.
17. Luminescent aisle markers.
- xiii. Illuminated  berth  indicators  integral  with  night  lights  with luminescent berth numbers.
- xiv. Improved  fire  safety  standards  by  ensuring  compliance  to world benchmark of EN45545-2 HL3 for materials.

(c):  Yes,  Sir.  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).

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

- i. 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.
- ii. 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
3. improved passenger amenities, have been introduced in service in various train services over Indian Railways (IR).
- iii. 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.
- iv. 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.
- v. 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.
- vi. 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.
8. 63 smart coaches with ultra modern features like Smart Public information  system,  Smart  HVAC (Heating,  Ventilation  and  Air  Conditioning  system),  Smart security and surveillance system etc. have been manufactured
- vii. address and passenger and introduced in service.
- viii. Conversion  of  End-On-Generation  (EOG)  trains  into  Head-OnGeneration (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.
- ix. Conventional lighting in coaches  is being replaced with modern and energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights.
- x. Increased  number  of  mobile  charging  points  are  also  being provided in coaches.
- xi. 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.

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