Kanpur train accident fallout: Shift to safer LHB coaches may take 30 years

NEW DELHI: Phasing out of the ICF designed coaches, which piled up during the Kanpur train accident causing death of 148 passengers, will take almost 30 years if the railways moves ahead with the current pace of production of modern Linke Hoffman Busch (LHB) coaches, servicing elite Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. Ignoring suggestions of several expert committees which termed the ICF coaches as "safety risk", the transporter's pace of switching over to LHB coaches has been very slow.

Apart from the inbuilt safety feature of not piling up, the LHB coaches are designed for speeds upwards of 120 kmph, are more fuel efficient and have longer a life span, while the ICF coaches are not meant for speed above 80-90 kmph. After the Kanpur tragedy , the railways is considering to step up the induction of LHB coaches, but a complete transition may take some time.


As per the railways' coach production programme, the production units will make 1253 LHB coaches in 2016-17. If the transporter fails to manage resources and accelerate production of these modern coaches, it will take 30 years to replace the ICF coaches which form a large part of its fleet with over 40,000 in operation. At present, only 4,000 LHB coaches are in service.

The transporter is resisting the switch-over process due to poor finances and limited capacity of production units.