Railways introduce glass ceiling trains for passangers’ infotainment

New Delhi: Indian Railways has decided to come up with an state-of-the-art structure and an infotainment section in the coaches. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) and Integral Coach Factory at Perambur have jointly designed glass ceiling coaches for the railways. These coaches will be operational from December 2016.

What IRCTC Chairman said:

• IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director AK Manocha said, “The basic objective behind such coaches is to promote tourism and woo upscale tourists from both India and abroad.”
• "There are some trains with glass ceiling in foreign countries like Switzerland, which enjoy the patronage of tourists. We believe such coaches would also give a fillip to rail tourism in India," the IRCTC Chairman added.
• He said that the first coach will be tagged in a regular train in the Kashmir Valley while the other two will be part of some trains moving through the Araku Valley in Vishakhapatnam."
• Manocha said that the trains to which the coaches are to be attached would be decided later.

Dham Ghaj Prasad, IRCTC Group General Manager stated the coaches with glass top ceiling to be the first of its type in India and said that the estimated cost of these coaches has come around Rs 4 crore.

He said, "Work on the project was started in year 2015 and the first such coach is all set to roll out in October itself.”

“The coaches will be ultra luxurious with rotatable chairs to provide the passengers an aerial view through partly glass ceiling. The coaches will also have modern infotainment system for the benefit of tourists,” Prasad elaborated.