New-age trains to get improved wipers

A month after the Western Railway motormen complained about lack of visibility during rains due to the poor quality of wipers, the authorities have now decided to replace them.

A month after the Western Railway motormen complained about lack of visibility during rains due to the poor quality of wipers, the authorities have now decided to replace them.

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They want to replace the pneumatic wipers with wipers that will run on electricity for better and quicker movement especially during the monsoon.

The motormen had complain that the wipers, fitted on the huge windows of their cabin in the new-age trains, are either small in size or its rubber is not good enough to wipe droplets hitting the windows.

Thus the trains ran at a speed of 30 kmph, whereas the average speed is 60 kmph, delaying the services by two minutes than the scheduled time.

The new wipers will be of 20 inches instead of the present 12 inches. “This step will help improving the running of train services,” said S. Gupta, chief PRO of WR.

The WR conducted a trial run by testing their new-and-improved wiper in one of the suburban local on Thursday.

“We are testing it for the next one month. If found satisfactory then it would be sent to the Research Design and Standard Organisation for final approval,” said a senior WR official, requesting anonymity. “These electricity-run wipers are bigger than the pneumatic wipers, which depends on wind conditions,” said another official.

Currently, if the pneumatic wipers don’t function, the motormen have to wipe the glass using a cloth. “ We only hope that the new wipers give better results,” said a motorman.