Railways bogies to have more capacity

To clear extra rush during peak hours, the Indian Railways is finalising plans to manufacture high-axle load bogies which can carry up to 400 passengers.

Plans are afoot to manufacture 120 coaches with increased axle load of bogies to carry higher load, a senior Railway Ministry official said.

Currently, non-AC LHB (Linke Holfmann Busch) coach can carry the load of up to 250 passengers with a sitting capacity of about 90.

"But very often more than 250 passengers travel in a coach during rush hour and it has resulted in damage of the spring and other bogie parts," the official said, adding, "due to increasing load of passengers, Railways requires coaches with higher axle load bogies."

LHB bogies have axle load up to 16 tons. According to the plan, it can be increased up to 19.5 ton which will enable Railways to carry up to 400 passengers. Railways requires about 120 such bogies to run at a maximum speed of 130 km per hour on high density route. It expects the high capacity coaches to generate higher passenger revenue.

"The bogies with increased axle load can cater load up to 400 passengers per coach during peak season. These bogies will also have crash worthy design so that wheel sets do not come out from bogies during accidents and causing major damage," the official said.

The proposed coaches would be non-AC and the height will be the same as the existing LHB coach.