Indian Railways plans to refurbish almost 2,000 old coaches by the end of this year. The national transporter, to improve its customer experience, will upgrade the old coaches by adding charging points for every seat, tray-tables, new fans, better seat covers, new taps, pictures in the passages. The expenditure for the revamp is expected to be around Rs 600 crore. Over the next few years, Indian Railways plans to upgrade almost 40,000 coaches out of total 59,000 coaches on its trains, reports the Hindustan Times.

Rajesh Agarwal, a member of the Railway Board, said that the Indian Railways has planned several initiatives to change the interiors and exteriors of trains, and also to improve the quality of railway coaches, the report said.

Agrawal added that an umbrella project had been initiated to refurbish the coaches of Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains. He said that more than 40,000 coaches would be refurbished when they go for their annual maintenance to avoid any disruption in operations.

Indian Railways also plans to make as many as 640 'Utkrisht rakes' in the next two years. This development would cost around Rs 400 crore.

(Edited by Vivek Dubey)