Railways to replace coach couplings in 4 years: Official

The design for new wagons with radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices are ready, says Yatish Kumar

The railways has decided to change the traditional couplings in old coaches with the Centre Buffer Coupler in the next four years to prevent their piling up on each other in the event of any mishap, officials said.

"Keeping the safety (of passengers) in mind, it has been decided to replace the traditional screw-type couplings in favour of Centre Buffer Couplers (CBC) in old coaches which are currently available in a few premium trains like Rajdhani that prevents piling up of coaches on each other," a senior Railway official declining to be quoted said on the sidelines of a CII-organised event on manufacturing excellence.

A target of four years has been set to replace these coupling, the official said, adding Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has set top priority to safety.

Director of Research Design and Standards Organisations, Indian Railways, Yatish Kumar said the design for new wagons with radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices was ready and from 2017, all new coaches would be produced with the new technology for tracking and management.

"The RFID wagons can be tracked by users similar to tracking of courier parcels ... Railways can manage their wagons on a real time basis," the official said.