The Railways have sought the help of the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) in phasing out its fleet of 10,000 air-conditioned coaches, in keeping with the Montreal Protocol on environment, to which India is a signatory.The Railways had been using chlorofluourocarbons (CFC)-based refrigerants for the air-conditioning of their coaches. With research proving CFCs to be ozone-depleting, the Montreal Protocol had adopted the phasing out of all CFC-based substances from the world by 2010.However, the Railways had asked for additional time, taking the plea that the life of their coaches is 30 years, and they would not be able to discard all of them so soon. The railways—as key institutional users of CFC refrigerants—were then given time till 2020 to either phase out or convert their AC coaches to non-CFC based air-conditioning. The railways of developed countries had been given time till 2006.Sources said that the Indian Railways is finding it difficult phase out the coaches, and had thus asked for help from UNDP, which can provide funds for such efforts from the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund. The fund was set up to finance the cost of incremental ODS phase-out, including cost of transfer of technology, purchase of capital equipment and operational costs.The Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala and the Integrated Coach Factory at Perambur are the main manufacturers of AC coaches. The two factories, according to sources, are making efforts to switch over to the technology. ‘‘However, they have asked for some help. Now, RDSO will help them on the technical front and UNDP, financially,’’ an official said.
