New Delhi: Improvements in passenger amenities in train coaches are a continual endeavor of the Indian Railways (IR).
- Some of the policy decisions taken in this regard are:
- Provision of dust bins in Non-AC coaches.
- Provision of mugs with chain in Non-AC coaches.
- Provision of Health Faucets in AC as well as Non-AC Sleeper class coaches.
- OBHS has been made functional in 975 pair of trains of Indian Railways.
- Clean My Coach/Coach Mitra is functional in about 950 pair of trains.
- 58 in house mechanised laundries have been made functional and with these there is perceptible improvement in the quality of linen provided in trains.
- IR is improving the interior of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) design coaches. New interiors with more pleasing colours, aesthetically designed fittings, panelling, improved toilets, etc. are being provided in the existing coaches by refurbishing them during Mid Life Rehabilitation (MLR). Work in 700 such Model rake coaches is being progressively carried out. Out of these, more than 100 Model rake coaches have already been turned out.
- Various premium services like Humsafar, Tejas, Antyodaya and coaches like Deen Dayalu and Anubhuti, which have improved passenger amenities, have also been introduced in service.
- IR has launched Project Swarn with the objective of significantly improving the passenger experience. In total, 14 Rajdhani and 15 Shatabdi trains will be covered.
- For the assistance of visually impaired travellers, Integrated Braille signage, i.e signage superimposed with Braille scripts, are being provided in the newly manufactured coaches of IR. Retrofitment of the same in existing coaches has also been taken up in a phased manner.
- All stations and passenger carrying trains are planned to be provided with CCTV based surveillance system and Wi-Fi facility.
- Railway is providing 18 nos. of mobile charging points in all class of passenger coaches including general class coaches in phased manner. So far, all AC coaches have been provided with mobile charging points and 11452 sleeper coaches out of 16918 coaches & 10554 general coaches out of 17237 have been provided with 18 nos. of mobile charging points.
- Indian Railways has been providing energy efficient LED lights to improve illumination level in coaches. So far, 5747 coaches have been provided with energy efficient LED lights.
This information was given by the Minister of State of Railways Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
