The cramped three-tier airconditioned coaches may become an entity of the past as railways plan to introduce their larger version on the tracks.
Not only the new-look coaches will carry more passengers with more comfort, plans are also underway with railway ministry revamping catering and other facilities on trains and stations to make them more tourist-friendly.
The railways are actively considering to raise the height of coach shells of AC 3-tier category and plan to expand their passenger capacity to 81.
Similar ergonomically-designed coaches having capacity of 75 berths against earlier 64, are being fabricated at Kapurthala and Chennai coach factories as per Linke Hoffman Busch design under the technology transfer from European technology giant Alstom.
They are running in several Shatabadi and Rajdhani trains. The AC 3-tier coaches for Garib Rath express trains too will have amenities such as snack tables, bottle holders, mirrors, magazine holders, improved illumination using compact fluorescent light and mobile chargers.
According to the Minister of State for Railways R Velu, the improvement in catering services is an ongoing process and comfort of the travellers and tourists is receiving a priority attention.
Stations and trains are being provided with multi-cuisine food plazas, automatic vending machines, water vending machines, bedroll services and coach cleaning, he said.
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