RCF Kapurthala rolls out 3 -Tier AC Economy coach with high passenger capacity and new innovations

Kapurthala: Indian Railways has always been committed to the convenient travel of its passengers by developing coaches with improved passenger friendly features. The new entrant to this developmental journey of Indian Railways is AC Three Tier Economy Class Coach which is synonymous with the cheapest and best AC travel in the world. This AC Three Tier Economy Class coach was rolled out today from Rail Coach Factory Kapurthala to RDSO Lucknow in the presence of General Manager Mr. Ravinder Gupta for the upcoming trial.

Under the directions of the Hon'ble Railway Minister, this LHB Three Tier Coach was conceived by RCF Kapurthala and work on its design started on war footing in October 2020 with the approval of the Ministry of Railways. In this new passenger coach, where modern passenger amenities have been taken to a new peak, the passenger capacity has been increased from 72 to 83 berths.

Many innovations have been incorporated in the design of this coach. For increased passenger space, the high voltage electric switchgear presently installed on board has been shifted below the under frame for first time in Indian Railways, thereby increasing the passenger capacity by introducing 11 additional berths in these coaches. 

Each coach is provided with a wider and one disabled friendly toilet entry door which is a new initiative.

Several design improvements have also been made for improving passenger comfort like redesign of the AC ducting to provide individual AC vents for each berth. Improved and modular design of seats and berths, foldable snack tables in both longitudinal and transverse bays, injury free spaces and holders for water bottles, mobile phone and magazines etc. Individual reading lights and mobile charging points are provided for each berth in addition to standard socket. A new ergonomically improved design of ladder for accessing the middle and upper berths is also a new feature. There is an increased headroom in the middle and upper berths. The design has been improved for both Indian and the Western style lavatories. Public address and passenger information systems have also been installed as a part of passenger facilities in these coaches.

Ambience and ease of access into coach has been improved by aesthetically pleasing and ergonomic entrance. The interior of the coach has luminescent aisle markers, illuminated berth indicators integral with night lights with luminescent berth numbers. There is also improved fire safety by ensuring compliance to world benchmark of EN45545-2 HL3 for materials, thus meeting the high requirements of the new fire protection standard. RCF has production plan of 248 Nos of this 3 Tier economy coaches in current and next fiscal years. Series production of these coaches will be started from Feb 2021.

This new 3-Tier Air-Conditioned Economy Class coach is a symbol of aspirational India bringing AC travel to larger number of people and enhancing the capacity of our express trains. Undoubtedly, now every rail journey will become a journey of pleasant memories. /(Rajat Kumar, Jalandhar)