Chennai-Mysuru, Kovai Shatabdi trains to get facelift with chic coaches

CHENNAI: Come March, rail commuters will have a more comfortable travel onboard Chennai-Mysuru Shatabdi Express and Chennai-Coimbatore Shatabdi Express with the Southern Railway beginning work on upgrading the coaches of the two premier trains.

Official sources said the four rakes of Shatabdi trains (40 coaches) are being refurbished to have swanky look with state-of-the-art facilities such as LED lights, Braille signage, HD wi-fi and maintenance lock for toilets. The coach exteriors and entrance will sport new looks with vinyl wrapping and illumination of LED lights, said the sources.

To monitor the entry of  vendors and improve the safety of passengers, coach entrances will be covered with CCTV cameras, said an official. The coach upgrade work roughly costs `60 lakh under the project ‘Swarn’ to provide improved passenger amenities for premier trains. The railways had chosen 14 Rajdhani and 15 Shatabdi trains from across country for refurbishing.

The coaches are designed to be equipped with auto janitor system in toilets, faucets, stainless steel washbasins, improved soap dispensers, better quality dustbins and carefully chosen locations for ergonomic convenience. In addition, night signages for easy identification of berths and blanket covers for first class AC passengers will be introduced.

“New design magazine bags with extra pockets for mobile phones in keeping with the changing lifestyle will also be present,” said official sources, adding that three coach pilots would be deputed to get passenger feedback.

Southern Railway General Manager  R K Kulshrestha and other officials on Wednesday inspected the refurbishing works at the Basin Bridge yard.