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New Shatabdi to run @ 150 kmph
December 07, 2004 17:47 IST
India's first high-speed Shatabdi train will run on the Delhi-Bhopal section at a speed of 150 kilometer per hour from January next year, with the Rail Coach Factory rolling out the first rake of eight coaches of the new LHB German design.
Rail Coach Factory general manager M Sirajuddin said on Tuesday that the new Shatabdi rake had reached New Delhi and the Railways was readying the coaches for its run on the Delhi-Bhopal section after taking clearance from Commissioner Railway Safety.
He said the high-speed Shatabdi would run at the speed of 150 kmph from Delhi to Agra and from Agra onwards it would go at 130 kmph keeping in view of the condition of the rail track.
These coaches have been tested at a speed of 180 kilometer per hour, he said.
He said that the Railways had planned to run the high-speed Shatabdi by January 15 next provided there were no fog conditions. If the fog persists, then the high-speed train would be launched in March.
The new Shatabdi will 'provide facilities like those in an airplane and will change the experience of rail travel in the country,' he said.
He said the LHB coaches are lighter in weight, longer and built of stainless steel. They have a disc brake system, controlled discharge toilet and are relatively maintenance free.
The coaches can accommodate more passengers as they are two meters long than the ordinary chair-car. It thus has extra passenger carrying capacity of 78 seats in the ordinary chair-car and 54 seats in the executive chair-car, respectively.
In the existing chair-car design, the number of seats is 67 and 46, respectively, in the ordinary and executive classes.
The center buffer coupler has been used in these coaches to provide anti-climbing features in case of accidents, said Sirajuddin.
He said the new coach promises to be a profitable venture for the Railways as it could earn Rs 4.5 crore (Rs 45 million) more annually due to its additional seating capacity by running it on the Delhi-Bhopal section.
With the controlled discharge facility akin to the one in an airplane, the LHB is designed to be environment friendly. This would help to keep the railway platforms clean. The controlled discharge toilet would function when the train attains the speed of 35 kmph.
The rail factory has already rolled out about 100 coaches of new German design and there was overwhelming response to these coaches in the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express since December 15, 2003.
Sirajuddin said 24 coaches of the new LHB design were imported from Germany at the cost of Rs 7.4 crore (Rs 74 million) per coach by way of transfer of technology in 1995. But now the coaches are indigenously manufactured, keeping all facilities and luxuries intact. This has brought down the cost per coach to Rs 1.9 crore (Rs 19 million).
The Rail Coach Factory has also received a export order to manufacture 36 coaches for Myanmar Railways and would earn foreign exchange worth Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) and is expected to export these coaches next year.
The rail factory is manufacturing self-generating LHB coaches, and a rake of 19 such coaches will be rolled out by end of December this year.