New Delhi: As September is witnessing new experiments and technical replacement in the Indian Railways for the sake of passengers' comfort, the national transporter started running the new high-tech LHB coaches in Hirakhand Express on Friday.
Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the education minister Dharmendra Pradhan flagged off the new Linke-Hofmann-Busch rakes of Train No. 08445/08446 Bhubaneswar-Jagadalpur-Bhubaneswar, Hirakhand Express, through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan, here.
Indian Railways' East Coast Railway (ECR) zone replaced the ICF coaches. The LHB coaches are anti-telescopic- they do not flip in case of a collision, safer, lighter, and more comfortable and jerk-free. Earlier rail officials already informed that the replacement of the conventional coaches with LHB will be done from the safety point of view phase-wise.
"The vision is to make a wholesome transformation and not just incremental changes. The government is pursuing these projects on an express mode...We are committed to providing better connectivity and amenities to our esteemed passengers," the rail minister mentioned during the inauguration.
Hirakhand Express covers its journey of 784 km from Bhubaneswar to Jagdalpur having stoppages at 21 intermediate stations in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh under East Coast Railway (ECR) jurisdiction.
The express train will now run with a load combination of 01 AC 2 Tier, 02 AC-3 Tier, 04 Sleeper Class, Three Second Class Seating and 02 Guard cum Luggage and Divyangjan Coaches.