Indian Railways has initiated defensive moves for ensuring safe travel for passengers recently.
This move comes after the recent series of accidents. A lot of doubt and apprehension shrouds travel by Indian Railways now. The most recent measure by railways, is the move for replacing existing coaches with LHB coaches. LHB coaches or Linke Hofmann Busch coaches are German Technology.
Safer coaches – LHB coaches are safer than older ICF coaches because of two very important reasons.
- An LHB coach has the anti-climbing or anti-telescopic feature in-built which ensures that one coach will never climb or slide into another.
- The coupling between coaches, known technically as Center Buffer Coupling. This is a big safety feature between coaches.
- Let us see how – On August 19, 13 Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coaches of the Utkal Express derailed in Uttar Pradesh, killing more than 20. On the other hand, nine Linke Hofmann Busch coaches of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express derailed. No one died.
Going by, safe travel reports from major newspapers, 17 trains with ICF coaches have met with accidents with reported loss of life amounting to 431 deaths. LHB coaches have derailed with only 4 deaths.
Cost: Indian Railways would have to shell out 1.5 crores for each coach for safe travel. The older coaches cost 1 crore to 1.25 crores. At this crucial juncture, Indian Railways need to do whatever possible to ensure safe travel to the Indian masses who depend on it.