Central Railway is working towards changing the colour of the cushioned seats on suburban and non-suburban trains to brown from the current blue.
Central Railway is working towards changing the colour of the cushioned seats on suburban and non-suburban trains to brown from the current blue. In an attempt at refurbishing the interiors of the coaches of these trains, CR has not only changed the covers, but also the cushion material to rubberised coir, from the earlier densified thermally bonded polyester.
“Two years ago, we changed the cushions to densified thermally bonded polyester material, but later received complaints from commuters that it was getting depressed in spots and remaining intact at the corners of the seats, making them uneven and difficult for passengers to sit on. Finally, we have decided to change it back to rubberised coir, which will remain intact,” said AK Tiwari, chief workshop manager, Matunga workshop.
The workshop is currently busy renovating the older coaches of suburban trains, giving them the same look as the new coaches procured from Siemens under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP).
Sriniwas Mudgerikar, chief PRO, CR, said, “The colour combination of the coach is identical to that of the new coaches. However, the interiors are more comfortable, like the ones available in the old coaches. It is an ideal new age train.”
Mudgerikar added that really old rakes would be completely overhauled. “The new rakes will be used to replace overage rakes which have been in service for more than 30 years. Some of these will be used to increase services on the suburban section. However, at the same time, we have sufficient coaches which have been in service less than 30 years, but have completed over 10 to 15 years, which also need to be overhauled. The entire process of overhauling will be undertaken at Matunga.”
If sources from the workshop are to be believed, the president of India’s twin-car salon was manufactured at this workshop back in 1953. “The salon is kept in New Delhi and is used by the president during tours in the country. Although coach salons are manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory, this is the only workshop to have manufactured an entire salon,” Tiwari said.
The workshop has also completed the conversion of one 12-car rake from direct current traction to alternate current. CR hopes to convert the entire section between CST to Kalyan on AC traction of 25 KV from the existing 1,500 volt DC traction by December next year, which means that by then, 39 rakes will have to be converted.
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