Mission Retro-fitment to refurbish old coaches for better amenities and looks

NEW DELHI: Old, battered and shabby trains will soon be a thing of the past. Indian Railways is not only launching new trains, it is also refurbishing old coaches. In nearly five years, most of the trains will be clean, beautiful and fitted with modern amenities.

Attractive berth covers, modified berths, reading lights, LED lights, modular bio-toilets, powered venetian blinds, anti-graffiti coating, fire and smoke detection system, Braille signage and more mobile and laptop charging ports are some of the changes that passengers will see in upgraded coaches.

Under an ambitious Mission Retro-fitment, the railways will refurbish and retro-fit 40,000 coaches in next five-and-a-half years to enhance passenger comfort and experience.

"The cost of refurbishing one coach will be nearly Rs 30 lakh while that of retro-fitting will be Rs 28 lakh," said Ravindra Gupta, Member (Rolling Stock), Railway Board.

1/ MR @sureshpprabhu launches Mission Retrofitment for passenger coaches in Rail Bhavan. #MissionRailDev pic.twitter.com/DJ3DzCfN9q

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) June 13, 2017

"Currently, over 80 per cent coaches in service are old. We have closed manufacturing of these coaches from April 1, 2017. The existing old coaches will be modified to improve total travel experience of the passengers," said Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

The total cost of modifying and retro-fitting 40,000 coaches will be nearly Rs 15,000 crore.

"As this is a large-scale project and the railways workshops do not have enough capacity to do it alone, private players will be invited to participate in the project. Railways will cover 40 per cent of the project while the rest will be done with the help of private players. They will have to undertake this activity either in the railways workshop or in their premises," Gupta said.

2/ MR @sureshpprabhu: "Mission Retrofitment will ensure better travel experience for passengers with refurbished interiors in coaches" pic.twitter.com/R4HlXFPDIu

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) June 13, 2017

In the first phase, the tender will be put out for 8,000 coaches. "The first tender is already out for 2,500 coaches on which work will be undertaken inside the railways workshop. Next tender for 5,500 coaches, on which work will be undertaken outside railway workshops, will be out in 15 days," Gupta said.

The retro-fitted coaches will be stronger and will not climb on other coaches in case of accident as they will be fitted with centre buffer couplers which have inherent anti-climbing property.

The railways plans to roll out first lot of 2,000 modernised coaches in 2017-18.

It is also working on improving facilities for differently-abled people. New design of coaches will feature bigger toilets, railings, wider doors and anti-slip floor.