Guwahati: Indian Railways has recently rolled out newly upgraded Tejas type Smart Sleeper coaches to run the prestigious Mumbai – New Delhi Rajdhani Express, the first being on the Agartala-Anand Vihar route. Indian Railways plans to upgrade all the Rajdhani Express which are running with LHB coaches to Tejas coaches in a phased manner.
Experts concur with the railway ministry’s decision for the introduction of Tejas rakes to the Rajdhani Express is in line with the Indian Railways’ vision towards a more comfortable and technologically enhanced passenger travel.
“With the use of Tejas SMART Coach, the Indian Railways aims to move to predictive maintenance instead of preventive maintenance. The introduction of this modern Tejas Sleeper type train for a long-distance journey is another paradigm shift by the Indian Railways for enhancing the travel experience for passengers,” the statement from the Railway Ministry said.
“The Indian Railways has been taking forward leaps in the past few years, including in the COVID ridden 2020 and 2021, with steps such as formulating the NRP 2030 (national rail plan), streamlining EPC documents and general conditions of contract, etc. These have already created an investor-friendly environment for public-private partnerships in the Indian Railways domain,” said Ashish Suman, Partner, J Sagar Associates.
“One such vision of the Ministry of Railways is to replace of ICF Coaches with safer and comfortable Tejas type LHB and train sets. The Indian Railways, along with its privatisation initiatives, is certainly aiming for a homerun with its move to include Tejas rakes to the Rajdhani express, as the Indian Railways would now be able to offer high standards of passenger travel services to even those sections of the population which were not being serviced by the Airline industry,” he added.
Features of the new Tejas Rajdhani Express:
Digital destination board: Flush-type LED Digital Destination Board has been installed on each coach by splitting the displayed data into two rows. The first row displays Train number and Coach type while the second-row displays scrolling text of destination and intermediate station in multiple languages.
Security and Surveillance monitoring: Six nos. of cameras are fitted in each coach which gives live recording. CCTV cameras with day night vision capability, Facial recognition even in low light condition, Network Video Recorder are provided.
Automatic Plug Door: All main entrance doors are centralized controlled by Guard. The train will not start until all doors are closed.
Fire Alarm, Detection and Suppression system: All coaches are provided with Automatic Fire Alarm and Detection System. The Pantry and Power Cars have automatic fire suppression system in case detected.
Emergency Talkback for medical or security emergency
Improved Toilet Unit: Provided with an anti-graffiti coating, Gel coated shelf, New design dustbin, Door latch activated light, Engagement display.
Toilet Occupancy Sensor: Automatically displays the toilet occupancy inside each coach
Panic Button in Lavatories: Fitted in each lavatory, in case of any emergency.
Toilet Annunciation Sensor Integration (TASI): Two nos. of Toilet Annunciation Sensor Integration are fitted in each coach which will relay dos and don’ts announcement in the lavatories, whenever it is engaged.
Bio-Vacuum Toilet system: Provides improved hygiene condition in the toilet due to improved flushing and also saves water per flush.
● Stainless Steel Under-frame: Complete under-frame is of austenitic stainless steel (SS 201LN) which increases the life of the coach because of reduced corrosion.
Air Suspension Bogies: Provided with Air Spring Suspension in bogies to improve passenger comfort and ride quality of these coaches.
On-Board condition monitoring system for Bearing, Wheel, to improve safety
HVAC – Air quality measurement for Air Conditioning system
Water level sensor to indicate water availability on a real-time basis
Textured Exterior PVC Film: Exterior is provided with textured PVC film.
Improved interiors: Seats and berths having fire-resistant silicon foam, provide better comfort and safety to passengers.
Roller Blind on the window: Instead of curtains roller blinds are provided for easy sanitization.
Mobile Charging points: Provided for each passenger.
Berth reading light: Provided for each passenger.
Upper berth climbing arrangement: Convenient upper berth arrangement.
