Indian Railways to revamp second class coaches as AC coaches

Indian Railways is working to revamp second class coaches by making them air-conditioned.

Rail Coach Factory (RCF) at Kapurthala will design and produce the new coaches. The new coach is being finalised and expected to roll out the prototype soon, said an official in the Indian Railways.

Currently, the general second class coach can accommodate up to 100 passengers. However, the AC coaches not only have space to accommodate more passengers, but they will also have more facilities. AC coaches will be built in such a way that they can be used only in Mail and Express trains.

The Railways is already working to upgrade its infrastructure so that trains speed can increase up to 130 km per hour. To meet this speed, the national transporter has decided to upgrade general class coaches to AC coaches.

RCF has started manufacturing air-conditioned three-tier economy class coaches capable of running at an optimum speed of 160 km per hour. The Economy AC 3-tier coach will replace sleeper class coaches in Mail/Express trains.

The production began after successful oscillation trials of the economy coach conducted on the Nagda-Kota-Sawai Madhopur section at a speed of 180 kmph.