Latest news with #ICF-designed
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Hundreds of ICF-made coaches running in special trains to be withdrawn
Hundreds of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) designed coaches running in special trains operated across the railway network will be withdrawn and condemned. According to railway sources, a majority of these coaches were earlier used for operating 62 Garib Rath Express trains on various routes. LHB rakes The production of ICF-designed coaches for Garib Rath trains was stopped last year and replaced with Linke Hoffman Busch (LHB) air-conditioned economy rakes. The old coaches were used to run special trains. However, several complaints were received from senior officials in different Zonal Railways about multiple maintenance issues, including electrical and mechanical problems, and non-availability of spare parts. With increasing number of complaints from the travelling public and railway officials in the recent months, the Railway Board has directed that erstwhile ICF-designed Garib Rath Express coaches be withdrawn from passenger service with immediate effect, the sources said. Read more:Old coaches turn death traps 'Zonal Railways have reported a number of issues in maintenance of electrical and mechanical sub-assemblies of ICF Garib Rath coaches, which include overdue mid-life rehabilitation and difficulty in procurement of spares. It has been decided to discontinue these coaches from passenger service,' a railway official said. About 900 coaches were expected to be withdrawn. Though a policy decision was taken to replace all ICF-designed coaches, most of which are at least 20-years old, hundreds of trains were being operated with the old rakes. In Southern Railway alone, 154 rakes comprising the ICF-designed coaches were still in passenger service on several routes and officials had planned to replace them with LHB rakes by 2028, the sources said.
The Hindu
12-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Woman passenger suffers head injury as middle berth collapses on her
A woman passenger suffered a head injury after the middle berth of a sleeper class coach fell while she was asleep. The incident happened on Train No. 22651 Chennai-Palakkad Express shortly after it crossed Jolarpet early on Monday. The victim's husband alleged that first aid was not provided by the railway authorities for more than an hour until the train reached Salem where an ambulance was arranged. According to railway sources, Suria Murugan, 39, of Chennai, was sleeping on berth no. 1 (lower berth) when the unoccupied middle berth suddenly fell on her around 1.15 a.m. Other passengers alerted her husband Jyothi Jayashankar who was sleeping in another coach. On seeing Ms. Suria bleeding with a head injury, he sought medical assistance from the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) and other railway employees on the train. 'There was no first aid kit in the train. They did not even provide a cotton roll. The TTE said we could get down at the next stop [Morappur] and seek help there. But what can we do at an unknown place in the middle of the night? My wife managed to control the bleeding with a piece of cloth and we travelled for almost an hour-and-a-half so far as Salem,' Mr. Jayashankar told The Hindu. On arrival at Salem around 2.40 a.m., the ambulance paramedics did basic dressing and shifted Ms. Suria to the Government Hospital. 'We later took an autorickshaw and went to a private hospital and got admitted there. My wife had a deep cut on the forehead and underwent sutures. There was no assistance from the Railways. It is shocking that a train with about 1,000 passengers does not have even paramedics or a first aid box,' he said. Railway sources said the chain and locking mechanism of the middle berth was found to be normal when inspected at Dindigul Junction. The coach was allowed to run through the service without any change. Periodic overhaul of the ICF-designed sleeper class coach, made in 2005, was done on March 16 this year in Chennai. Railways blames passenger Asked about the circumstances that led to the incident, Southern Railway spokesperson M. Senthamil Selvan said the 'berth may have fallen owing to improper locking of the berth hook by the passenger'. The coach was 19 years old and fit for operation. A total of 154 ICF-designed rakes were operational in the zone, and a complete migration to LHB rakes would happen in three years, he said. On Monday evening, the Chief Public Relations Officer said medical assistance was promptly arranged by the commercial and medical control staff, but the passenger refused to disembark at Morappur. 'The unfortunate incident appears to have occurred owing to the passenger's improper handling of the chain link, which is the designated locking mechanism for the middle berth,' the CPRO said.
