Indian Railways will soon phase out non-AC sleeper class coaches and replace them with AC coaches having 83 berths
Bengaluru: Indian Railways is on a new mission! It has now taken a decision to phase out non-AC sleeper coaches.
As reported by Economic Times, a new plan in this regard points to the fact that sleeper class coaches having 72 berths will be replaced by AC coaches having 83 berths.
But why this move?
Well, the website, quoting Railway Board Chairman and CEO Vinod Kumar Yadav adds the move is to raise the speed of about 1,900 mail and express trains to 130 kmph by 2023 in the golden quadrilateral section and then to 160 kmph by 2025, which necessitates the jettisoning of sleeper coaches that could be slowed down by wind and dust during acceleration. The move is to make the journey both convenient and safer.
"Once all mail and express trains start running at 130 kmph or more, non-AC coaches will create technical and other problems because of wind and dust. So, we will gradually phase out all non-AC coaches in about 1,900 mail and express trains. It’s a big exercise and we will do it in a phased manner," Yadav was quoted as saying.
It is not just about phasing out non-AC coaches.
There are plans afoot to restructure zonal and divisional railways to end departmental silos, the merger of eight existing production units into two and the upgrade of in-house capabilities to manufacture highspeed coaches, the website added.
Apart from that, the website added that the process of building an aluminium-based lightweight train prototype, which will eventually replace the rakes being used in Vande Bharat Express, has already begun at the Modern Coach Factory in Raebareli.
"We are planning to restructure in such a way that every zone will have four distinct verticals — infrastructure, rolling stock, operation and maintenance, and finance just as it is on the board now. The same reforms finally need to go down to the divisions and then to the level of maintenance depots where depot managers will be empowered," website added further Yadav as saying.
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