Solar-powered light, fan in guard van of goods train

Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu today flagged off a newly manufactured guard van of goods train equipped with solar-powered light and fan, besides bio-toilet.
"It is our constant endeavour to provide good working conditions to our employees...Equipping facilities in guard van is in that direction," Prabhu said.
Besides fan and light, mobile charging facility supported by solar power generated through rooftop panel has been provided in the guard van.
The railways will provide such facilities in existing guard vans in a phased manner.
Guards of freight trains have been working under difficult condition in the absence of basic facilities like light and fan.

According to the railways, the solar generation is supported with a battery bank to power the brake van facilities for more than 24 hours continuously even on a rainy day.

The railways has also provided bio-toilet facility for train drivers in locos.
The new system is GPRS-supported which will enable monitoring of its functioning so that necessary maintenance inputs can be made available as and when needed to achieve uninterrupted service.
In keeping with the commitment to make India clean, the toilet in the guard room has been modified to a zero-discharge one which will prevent any discharge on the tracks.