CHENNAI: Soon passengers travelling in AC coaches of Express trains will have a panoramic view of outside sceneries through window glass, as the Railways have decided to replace the split-side windows with the continuous glass window.
The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has rolled out the first prototype of the Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) AC three-tier coach made with the continuous window glass.
Besides sporting swanky look, the continuous window glass will enable the passengers to have an aesthetic experience of the scenic routes, said railway sources.
As part of the plan to innovate coach designs, the ICF has fitted the vertical window glass in the coach continuously. "Each AC coach has nine windows. The gap between two windows normally fitted with aluminium sheets is now replaced with the vertical glasses. In the event of damage to window glass, only a small portion of glass will get affected since the window was not made of single glass," explained a senior official of the ICF.
The additional provision of vertical glass in AC three-tier coach has increased the coach production cost by one per cent and thereby the overall AC coach production cost works to `2 crore per coach.
The ICF has manufactured about 2,503 coaches for 2017-18, out of which 170 are AC coaches. For 2016-17, the production unit built 245 AC coaches comprising first class AC, two-tier 2nd AC, three-tier AC and chair car variants.
Official sources said though initially the continuous window glass is mainly meant for premier trains, the Railways has decided to introduce such coaches on scenic and tourist attractive routes.
"Apart from third AC coach, the additional feature will be introduced in the chair car and other AC coaches in phased manner," added ICF sources.
The Railways has already rolled out premier Vistadome coach built with glass roof with rotatable chairs and larger side window glasses. It costs `3.5 crore to manufacture a Vistadome coach. Railways are planning to introduce such premier coaches on tourist attractive routes.