Exclusive: Indian Railways to now manufacture passenger coaches with “anti-injury” fittings

Indian Railways is now looking to make passenger coaches with “anti-injury” fittings. The aim of the move is to avoid injuries caused due to sharp edges or protrusions in fittings inside Indian Railways’ passenger coaches in case of an untoward incident or even sudden braking or jerks, a source told TOI.
“For example, right now a coat hanger fitted inside a passenger coach is made of metal and can cause injury if a passenger’s head hits it in case of sudden jerks or an untoward incident,” the official said.“Similarly a lot of fittings inside passenger coaches, including luggage racks, tend to have rough edges, which will now have to be modified for future coaches,” the official added.
According to the person quoted above, the Railway Board has asked all coach manufacturing units of the Indian Railways to take this requirement into account when planning equipment purchases for passenger future coaches. The changes will take some time to implement, but in the coming months all coach factories are expected to adapt to this.

The direction from the Railway Board comes on the back of major railway accidents that have caused loss of several lives this year. The aim is to minimize the seriousness of injuries in case of an accident or sudden braking.

Meanwhile, Indian Railways is looking to replace ICF-design coaches with Linke Hoffmann Busch (LHB) coaches. The German-design LHB coaches have anti-climbing features that prevent coaches from piling on to each other in the case of a derailment.

Even as Indian Railways looks to increase its average passenger trains speed with new offerings such as Vande Bharat, Vande Bharat sleeper and the new push-pull train for the common man (unofficially being called Vande Sadharan), it is important that safety remain a key focus area for the national transporter.