NERDISTAN

TRAINS:-

So I will be posting after a lot of days. Sorry for being inactive for over a year and now I will bring you latest news about the development of Indian railways in the trains section of NERDISTAN

Today I will write about the new and  refurbished coaches of Kolkata metro.

Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the first of this 7 to be refurbished rakes on 9th june:

In 1984 the first metro of India ran in Kolkata for 3.4 km. Now that has turned to a vast 28.1 km route with 5 other routes in various phases of constructions. The trains in 1984 were procured from NGEF Karnataka and were decommissioned a few years back as they were beyond there age of work. Recently they were refurbished by Titagarh Wagons Limited and Kolkata metro jointly at the Noapara depot of Kolkata metro

News giant "Newsmen" reported that, "The train has now rejoined the fleet and comes with a host of new features (see list at the bottom) to aid passengers but ironically still lacks air conditioning which is quite vital, especially while travelling underground. Following its inauguration, the train made one trip from Noapara to New Garia and back. Over the next 18 months, the rest of the 6 train-sets will be refurbished and pressed back into service one after another."

 Here are some of the features as reported by NEWSMEN:-

1. Old passenger seats and backrests replaced with new ones of polycarbonate material.
2. Transparent glass partition at both ends of the seats similar to the ones in the AC coaches.
3. Audio visual passenger information system along with a passenger route indication board provided.
4. Old ventilation fans replaced with low-noise fans that will make the coaches more airy and less humid.
5. LED tube lights provided in place of fluorescent tube lights inside the coaches.
6. All interior panels replaced with anodized aluminum panels similar to AC rakes.
7. Old windows replaced with new modified ones that are easy to handle and will not get stuck.
8. Old vestibules replaced by new ones that have transparent sheet to allow daylight in pass through.
9. All existing handrails replaced with new ones.
10. Old aluminum chequered flooring replaced by fire resistance PVC flooring similar to AC coaches.
11. Fresh coat of paint on the exterior that has giving it a brand new look.

I have travelled in Kolkata, Delhi, Gurgaon metro and one thing that I felt Kolkata lacked was real time maps. Inclusion of those are a big boost and feel that its a good step but its  biggest con is that the rakes are not ac. The CNR Dahlian rakes will come next year and these coaches will feel tough competition.

So this is it. I will post more about anything new I find :)