Railways will add 15,000 coaches with upgraded interiors and exteriors by 2022-23 and also plans to upgrade 25,000 more coaches, parliamant was informed on Friday.
"It has been decided that around 15,000 coaches having upgraded interiors and exteriors would be added to the fleet of the Indian Railways by 2022-23," Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
The interiors and exteriors of about 25,000 existing coaches would also be upgraded depending "on the availability of required sanctions", he said.
Pointing out the benefits of the upgraded coaches, Gohain said: "The upgradation of coaches would result in a marked improvement in the overall ambience and enhanced passenger comfort."
The upgraded coaches include aesthetically appealing toilet modules with enhanced amenities, modular panels without visible screws inside the passenger area, dustbins and fire extinguishers in all coaches, passenger address system and global positioning system-based passenger information system, enhanced number of charging points and light emitting diode (LED) lighting.
The minister said that these works would be carried out in a phased manner depending upon the availability of capacities and funds.
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Gohain further said that deployment of new coaches or refurbished coaches was generally done both for new trains as well as for existing trains depending on operational feasibility, maintenance practices, and passenger demand obtained at the time.
--IANS
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