CHENNAI: A few lucky passengers who booked tickets to travel by Chennai - Mysuru Shatabdi Express could get a seat in newly revamped coach that would be augmented with the train from Saturday. Although the Southern Railway has augmented sole upgraded coach, for the time being, the coaching depot at the Basin Bridge has been upgrading 27 more Shatabdi coaches under Swarn project.
Senior depot mechanical engineer Parimal Kumar said that the new upgraded coach has Braille stamped seat numbers to assist the visually impaired passengers. “In contrary to the conventional Shatabdi coaches, the upgraded coach has been finished with vinyl wrapping. Micro bust technology (auto fragrance) installed in the coach will help keep the compartment fresh,” Parimal Kumar said on Friday.
According to the coaching depot officials, the government had directed to upgrade 28 coaches. “After completion of the works, Chennai- Mysuru Shatabdi Epress will have 13 upgraded coaches and one Anubhuti coach. Chennai-Coimbatore Shatabdi will have eight upgraded coaches and one Anubhuti coach. Other Shatabdi coaches that are to be upgraded will be used as reserves,” A. Suresh, coaching depot officer said.
Meanwhile, Southern Railway has announced that one Swarn AC chair car would be temporarily augmented with Chennai Central -Mysuru- Chennai Central Shatabdi Express from February 10 to May 10. It is learnt that the Shatabdi coaches had been manufactured by Rail Coach Factory (RPF), Kapurthala in 2008. A. Suresh also said that the newly upgraded coach would provide WIFI connectivity to passengers. Although the passengers could access free WIFI, they could not browse the Internet.
“Passengers can watch only pre-uploaded videos using their devices. The coach has been equipped with 2 security cameras each at both the entrances,” the officials said. Suresh also added that the coach has been revamped at a cost of Rs 10 lakh. It may be recalled that the ministry of railways had announced upgrading of Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains under Project Swarn.
