IRCTC plans ‘international standard’ rail coaches with Glass Roofs; submit proposal to ICF

IRCTC plans ‘international standard’ rail coaches with Glass Roofs; submit proposal to ICF

Chennai (MAS): The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has submitted a proposal to manufacture ‘international standard’ railway coaches with glass roofs to the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.

The corporation is looking to attract high-end and NRI tourists, corporate groups and the like for patronage on this special coaches, which will be attached to trains running on select routes that link important tourist locations. The roof would be made of glass for the passengers to get a clear view.

An order for two such special coaches has been given to the ICF as a pilot project.

Another aspect of the coach is that the pantry arrangement would be like those on aircraft, for which talks are on with foreign companies, sources said.

The coach would also have facilities for in-train entertainment. It can accommodate around 30 passengers and the fare would be higher than that for 2-tier AC, as it would have high-end facilities.

The coaches would have a stainless steel body like the LHB coaches used in the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and semi-high speed trains, ICF sources indicated.

Since the proposal involves several novel requirements, the ICF is working on it right from the scratch.

“Such a coach doesn’t exist in India and it will be a fresh design. We have never manufactured a coach like this,” said an official. The cost of manufacture would also be around `80 lakh to `1.2 crore.

Though a timeframe for the delivery of the two coaches wasn’t given, it would certainly take more than a year, ICF sources said.