GUWAHATI, Nov 19 - The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has stepped up its efforts to fit more and more trains with the new generation Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches.
So far this year, as many as five passenger trains, which were earlier fitted with the Integral Coach Factory (ICF)-made conventional coaches, have been fully converted and they are now operating with LHB coaches.
�This has been done to improve safety and comfort in these trains. A roadmap for further conversion of other passenger-carrying trains into LHB-coach trains has also been prepared. Up till now, LHB-type coaches were used in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and other premium trains only,� said Pranav Jyoti Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the Maligaon-headquartered NF Railway.
He said LHB coaches are the passenger coaches of Indian Railways that have been developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany (renamed Alstom LHB GmbH in 1998 after the takeover by Alstom) and mostly produced by the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, Punjab.
The five trains that have been converted into LHB type are the 22512/22511 Kamakhya-Lokmanya Tilak Express, the 15668/15667 Kamakhya-Gandhidham Express, the 22501/22502 Bangalore-New Tinsukia Express, the 15621/15622 Kamakhya-Anand Vihar Express and the 15620/15619 Kamakhya-Gaya Express.
�Further, two more trains � the 12523/12524 New Jalpaiguri-New Delhi Express and the 12505/12506 Guwahati-Anand Vihar Northeast Express � will also be converted into LHB-type train this year. Six more trains will be converted into LHB-type in 2019-20 and four more will be converted into LHB-type in 2020-21,� Sharma said.
He added, �The LHB coaches have enhanced safety features, greater passenger comfort and better riding qualities. They can accommodate more passengers compared to ICF-made coaches and introduction of these coaches will increase overall carrying capacity of trains�.
