Smoother ride on Rajdhani, Shatabdi trains from October

Passengers travelling on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains from Delhi can expect a smoother ride from October, as the railways will replace their couplers which connect coaches in trains, Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani said today.

Thirteen Shatabdi trains and 11 Rajdhani trains which arrive and depart from the nation capital will now have the new design centre buffer coupler (CBC) which is equipped with balanced draft gear which has high capacity shock absorbers and will to a large extent cut out the jerks experienced by passengers on board.

The existing CBC has weak shock absorbers as a result passengers sometimes feel jerks during the journey.

"The couplers will be replaced in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains running in Northern Railways by October this year. This will remove the jerks experienced by passengers on board trains," said Lohani.

A coupler is a device for connecting coaches with each other in a train. The equipment that connects the couplings to the rolling stock is known as the draft gear.

The new CBC would act as a safety measure as well.

"The new CBC is also equipped with anti-climbing mechanism to prevent coaches from toppling and climbing on each other at the time of derailments and accidents," an official said.

Toppling of coaches causes maximum casualties during accidents.