MCRP gears up to improve amenities in rail coaches

Bhubaneswar, Nov 13 (UNI) The Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop here has taken up the provision of cushioned seats in General Second Class Coaches, additional side middle berth in Sleeper and AC-3 tier coaches and mobile and laptop charging points to improve the passenger amenities in the rail coaches.

East Coast Railways(ECoR) General Manager Surendra Singh Khurana, who flagged off the first Rake of Bhubaneswar-Raipur Intercity Express yesterday, said the workshop would continue to turn out coaches in line with the aspirations of passengers for a comfortable and safe journey.

He said the Mancheswar workshop had been selected by Railway Board for doing overhauling of coaches with upgraded materials to enable increase in periodicity of overhauling from 12 to 18 months.

Mr Khurana said use of PVC flooring, safety and fire retardant vinyl coated fabrics, fire retardant decorative thermosetting resin bonded LP sheet and densified thermal bonded polyester blocks in the upgraded coach would improve the fire retardance of coaches and give a better and aesthetic look.

Similarly, composite brake gear bushes, high capacity hytrel washer and injection moulded silent block for anchor link will reduce maintenance attention of the coaches and provide better safety.

The use of modified design water tank will have a longer life and reduce problem of leakages, Mr Khurana said adding the Workshop had done additional works of ''Refurbishing of Toilets'' involving concealed piping, use of aluminium composite boards and stainless steel inlay and provision of Crashworthy features.

He said the first Rake of Bhubaneswar-Raipur Inter City Express had been completed and another rake for this train, including one rake of Bhubaneswar-Yeshvantpur express, are expected to be completed during the current financial year.

UNI