Railway travel across India is set for an upgrade. Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister launched the first Tejas Train earlier this week, which made its maiden journey from Goa to Mumbai. New Tejas Trains offer amenities which were never seen before in Indian rail travel.
Tejas Express is a semi-high speed train of the Indian Railways with 22 new features which include individual entertainment screens, hand phone socket and LED boards with safety instructions, the Tejas Express will also have quality catering service as seen on the Rajdhani and Duronto trains. For the Tejas Express, Indian Railways is considering cuisines curated by Sanjeev Kapoor, celebrity chef, entrepreneur writer and television personality.
Tejas Train is also seen in an interior color scheme that will match its exteriors offering passengers a world class experience. There will be tea and coffee vending machines and magazine and snack tables along with state of the art toilets with water level indicators in bio vacuum toilets, sensorised taps and hand driers.
CCTV, smoke and fire detectors and suppression systems are also there. Tejas Express is constructed at the Railway Coach Factory at Kapurthala. Tejas coaches will have Executive Class and Chair Cars as against Hamsafar Express which is seen with 3 AC. With a host of modern on board facilities on offer, the train will change the way people travel by train in India. As the same features will progressively be carried over to many more trains.
But there is a slight problem, we, the passengers. Yes. Not before the first journey of of Tejas Train was completed, there were reports of vandalism from Indian Railways. Some of the glass windows had been broken by miscreants while the train was passing by. If this was not enough, some passengers who were travelling inside the train, have stolen headphones and have scratched the 9 inch touchscreen LED infotainment system.
This really is saddening. As one reader posts – “We are indians and this is our birth right… we only behave little better when we are in the west… otherwise do not expect any good behavior here.. we spit and throw garbage where ever we want, we will destroy other people’s property, and we will talk loud and make noise, we do not care others.. nation.. never..”
One reader has a solution – “Why not conduct a pre and post check of assets before commencement of journey and after the journey ends. Where passengers are found damaging /stealing property, charge them 5 times the cost of the property. Aadhar is linked with railway tickets, Aadhar is linked with bank accounts, Aadhar is linked with PAN.”
Tejas Train Photos
Tejas Train Food Menu
New Coaches
In addition to this, Indian Railways is also working on upgrading coaches of all passenger trains. The new coaches are designed by Coach Rehabilitation Workshop (CRWS), in Nishaputra, Bhopal and are a part of the Government’s Make in India scheme.
New Indian Railway coaches will have multi charging points for mobile and laptop, larger side berths, fire extinguishers and snack tables. Seats will all be made of poly-vinyl material making them fire proof while seats will sport LED reading lights.
A new purple color, aside from the usual green and red seats across the coach will add to its premium appeal. Floors of the coaches will be painted in a carpet finish while middle berths will be seen with side support and railings.
The plan is to bring in 111 such Make In India Railway Coaches which will include 87 non AC coaches, 17 coaches for AC 3 tier, 5 coaches for AC 2 tier and 1 each for AC 1 tire and chair car coaches. Following a successful test run between Bhopal and Bina railway stations, clearance from Railway Board is awaited following which these coaches will be seen on ISO certified trains and Rajdhani Express while special chair car coaches for Shatabdi Express will also be manufactured by CRWS.