Rlys to roll out state-of-the-art coaches

NEW DELHI: Railway passengers will soon be able to travel in luxurious coaches with glass ceiling and state-of-the-art infotainment systems, similar to those in

NEW DELHI: Railway passengers will soon be able to travel in luxurious coaches with glass ceiling and state-of-the-art infotainment systems, similar to those in Switzerland. The Indian Railways has announced the launch of such coaches from December.

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“These coaches will have rotatable chairs to provide the passengers an aerial view. The coaches also have ample leg space and are also equipped with state-of-the-art infotainment systems,” Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) chairman and managing director AK Manocha said. Manocha said the aim behind introducing the coaches was to help in the promotion of tourism. “The first of these coaches will roll out in October itself. The basic objective of introducing them is to promote tourism and woo upscale tourists from India and abroad”.

These coaches have been jointly designed and developed at the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory in consultation with the IRCTC and the Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) at a cost of Rs 4 crore apiece. The first of these coaches will be tagged in a regular train in Kashmir, while two others will be part of a train that transverses the Araku Valley in Vishakhapatnam, Manocha said, adding that entire trains fitted with such coaches will be operated at a later stage.

“We believe such coaches would also give a fillip to rail tourism in India,” he said. The Corporation’s group general manager Dham Ghaj Prasad said the coaches would rival the best in the world.