Train for safe journey with W Rlys’

If AC sleeper coach no. 94022/A of the Aravali Express pulls into a station roughly, the passenger can be sure he won’t scratch his elb...

If AC sleeper coach no. 94022/A of the Aravali Express pulls into a station roughly, the passenger can be sure he won’t scratch his elbow or hurt his knee.

It’s a ‘‘crash-worthy’’ coach. With rounded fittings and no projectiles, nothing can remotely injure the passenger if he’s thrown off his seat. The Indian Railways’ only passenger-friendly coach now, it is a prototype that others could copy to cut down on deaths and injuries during ‘‘secondary collisions’’.

The coach, a creation of Western Railways’ Lower Parel Carriage Workshop, bagged the Best Airconditioned Coach award at the All-India Coaches Display Competition in April. Southern Railways took home the Best Non-Airconditioned Coach award.

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Workshops’ Chief Works Manager Rajiv Mishra said: ‘‘There is a dual purpose for the injury-proof coach. The interiors are passenger-friendly and it’s aesthetically more acceptable.

‘‘The Railway Board had asked all nine zonal railways to design ‘crash-worthy’ coaches. On April 5, coaches from across the country rolled into Delhi for the competition.’’

The coaches are no new invention. In-house touches made all the difference, Mishra said. The corners of berths were rounded and padded, CFL lights were recessed, and flexible reading lights and fully-padded, covered berth chains were installed.

Casing mouldings with aluminum-rubber capping ensure that passengers don’t scrape their knees, and snack tables are flush with the walls. Acrylic mirrors, rounded berth bolts, berth bolts in padded contoured blocks, rubber-bump stoppers, concealed toilet pipes, and rounded shelfs add to the safety.

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Mishra said: ‘‘The elimination of injury-prone designs and materials, use of rounded fittings, concealed or recessed screws, and improved aesthetics as also better usability were the guilding principles.’’

Western Railways is now awaiting the Railway Board’s approval to build more of the same coach.

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