Coupling happens without manual intervention in more advanced LHB coaches: Railway min Ashwini Vaishnaw

Vaishnaw said this while providing information about various safety measures taken to prevent untoward incidents during coupling and decoupling of trains coaches.

New Delhi: More advanced LHB coaches, introduced by the railways in 1999-2000, are provided with centre buffer couplers in which coupling takes place without any manual intervention, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

He said this while providing information about various safety measures taken to prevent untoward incidents during coupling and decoupling of trains coaches.

Vaishnaw responded to questions raised by MPs Priyanka Chaturvedi and Derek O’ Brien regarding a recent case in which a railway employee lost his life after getting sandwiched between an engine and a coach while decoupling them.

They wanted to know if the government maintains any state-wise data of accidents and deaths caused during manual coupling of train coaches since 2019 and the measures taken by the government to prevent such accidents.

“ICF coaches, designed and developed during the 1960s, were provided with screw coupling and side buffers, which require manual coupling of coaches. More advanced LHB coaches were introduced by Indian Railways (IR) in 1999-2000,” Vaishnaw said.

He added, “These LHB coaches are provided with Centre buffer couplers in which coupling takes place without any manual intervention. IR (Indian Railways) have taken up the replacement of ICF coaches by LHB coaches in a phased manner.” According to Vaishnaw, from 2014 to 2024, 36,933 LHB coaches were manufactured as compared to 2337 from 2004 to 2014.

He further informed that advanced semi-automatic couplers have also been developed for use in Amrit Bharat and Vande Bharat trains.

“These couplers also enable automatic coupling between coaches without any mutual intervention. Induction training and refresher training at regular intervals is imparted to concerned field staff to avoid the possibility of any unfortunate incidences during coupling/decoupling/shunting etc,” he said.

Talking about safety protocols, he said that clear hand signalling procedures are in place to avoid any accident or injury to staff during coupling, uncoupling, and shunting activities.

“A recent unfortunate incident happened in the East Central Railway due to miscommunication between railway staff and (it) was not on account of coupling/uncoupling requirements. Further, safety drives are regularly carried out, which include counselling staff to remain cautious during work,” he added.