LHB Coaches

History

During 1993-94, Indian Railways decided to look for a passenger coach design which would be lighter and capable of higher speeds compared to their existing rakes. The main features of the Railways' specification were high speed light weight coaches to run on the present infrastructure of the Indian Railways, i.e. the railway, track and environmental conditions in India at an operating speed of 160 km/h. It was decided by the Railways that the design would first be tried in the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala (RCF), and upon successful completion of this trial, it would be tried in the Integral Coach Factory in Perambur.

In 1995, after a global selection process, Alstom-LHB received the order from Indian Railways to design and develop a new passenger coach under a transfer of technology agreement. As part of the order, Alstom-LHB had to execute two contracts, one for the supply of "Light Weight High Speed Coaches for Broad Gauge" which includes the development, design and manufacture of 19 AC 2nd Class Chair Cars, 2 AC Executive Class Chair Cars and 3 Generator-cum-Brake vans and the other contract for the "Technology Transfer" which includes the transfer of technology for design and manufacturing, the training of Indian Railways personnel in the premises of the manufacturer and the technical assistance at RCF during the start of production. Out of the 24 coaches imported from Germany, all of them mostly being Air Conditioned chair cars, the first lot were used for New Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express on a trial basis. It didn't turn out be successful as the coaches' wide windows were targets of mischief and stone-pelting. Railways had to use sealing tapes to tape up the bruised windows. When these rakes were brought into service, couplers came unstuck and the data collected from the passenger feedback showed that the air conditioning was not "very effective". They were withdrawn from service and after attending to the problems, Railways reintroduced them on the New Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express and proved successful.

The RCF began to manufacture other variants of LHB design like the air conditioned first class, AC 2 tier sleeper, AC 3 tier sleeper, hot buffet (pantry) car etc., from 2001 to 2002, and rolled out its first rake in December 2002. The first such rake was introduced for Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani Express in December, 2003. Up to March 2011, 997 LHB coaches were produced by the RCF. All of these coaches are being used in premier super fast express trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Express and have been offering better passenger comfort. Soon, all the Duronto trains will be equipped with LHB coaches.

Usage

Indian Railways have decided to replace the conventional air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned Integral Coach Factory made coaches with the LHB coaches in all the trains by the end of 2016. Presently LHB coaches are seen mostly in premium air-conditioned trains such as Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Gatimaan Express and Duronto Express, Double Decker Express & latest Humsafar Express owing to high cost of manufacture but gradually non-air-conditioned trains like Avantika Express, Secunderabad-Vijayawada Intercity , Poorva Express , Sampoorna Kranti Express, Purushottam Express, Karnavati Express, Gujarat Mail, Gujarat Sampark Kranti Express, Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Express, Swatantra Sainani Superfast Express, Kamayani Express, Kaifiyat Express, Kushinagar Express, Archana Express,Anga express, Shiv Ganga Express and Mahabodhi Express, Pandian Express, Rockfort Express, Indore–Yesvantpur Express, Shahjahanpur Express, Shabd Bhedi Express and Prayagraj Express have also been upgraded with non-air-conditioned LHB coaches manufactured at Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, Punjab.

Production

Annual production of LHB coaches is around 400 per year for year 2013-2014.

Types

Bogies

The FIAT-SIG bogie is a welded H frame type based on the Eurofima standard. The wheel base is 2560 mm, the wheel diameter new 915 mm and at maximum wear 845 mm. Main features of the bogie are primary suspension with articulated arms and coil springs, secondary suspension of integral flexicoil type with coil springs and rubber pads on top and bottom, anti-roll bar, vertical and transverse shock absorbers and anti-hunting dampers. For braking on each axle two disc brakes with 640 mm diameter, brake cylinders and automatic slack adjuster are provided.

Couplers

The automatic center buffer coupler of AAR tight lock type at the coach end has a support frame which provides an anti-climbing protection. The coupler can be opened from the side by a lever. The design allows the use of screw coupler instead of center buffer coupler. Therefore a fixing plate for buffers is also provided. The inter-vehicle coupler for the supply of the 750 V from the generator car is located below the under-frame. Due to the moving situation 4 brake hoses are to be used at the coach end which are brought to two hoses behind the coupler.

Air conditioning

Each coach is equipped with two compact roof-mounted air-conditioning units which have a cooling capacity of approximately 2x22.5 KW and a heating capacity of 2x6 KW and which are controlled by a microprocessor. The operating voltage of the unit is 3 phase, 415 V, 50 Hz. Each unit has 2 refrigerant circuits with hermetic refrigerant compressors, condensers with Copper pipes and Aluminum fins, evaporators and condenser fans.

The fresh air comes in through the air inlet of the AC unit. The conditioned air is transported in heat insulated aluminum ducts mounted below the roof and distributed through the perforated ceiling into the passenger room. The return air flows back through openings above the compartment door to the AC unit. The entrance area, toilets and pantry are connected to the exhaust air system.

Doors

The entrance doors are made of the same steel as the car body shell. They are flush with the sidewall to allow easy car-washing. Two handholds and three fixed steps are provided to enter the coach. The door inward opening to the entrance area is covered from inside with a FRP panel. Above the door is an entrance light. The entrance steps are closed by a foldable cover. An inside handhold allows easy entry and exit. An ashtray is also provided.

Water supply and disposal

There are two connected fresh water tanks, which are made of stainless steel, with a total capacity of 1370 liters for the 3 toilets. The water level is indicated on one tank on each side. The filling can be made from both sides by one filler for both tanks. Three intermediate water tanks, each with a capacity of 30 liters, made out of stainless steel are located above the toilets. Two centrifugal pumps located in a stainless steel casing at the under frame supply the water to the tanks. One of the 415 V pumps is always kept running, while the other is kept on standby. After each switch off the other pump will work.

Below each toilet, a 40 litre waste water tank is provided in which toilet waste is collected when the coach is at standstill. It gets opened with a pneumatically operated sliding valve when a defined speed is reached. The junction box for the inter-vehicle coupler is visible.

Toilets

The coaches are equipped with "controlled discharge toilet system" (CDTS). By the means of this system, a toilet in the coach would become functional only when the speed of the coach crosses 30 kmph, which is said to help in avoiding the soiling of the track at the railway stations. Later on, CDTS was discarded for an environmental friendly alternative, "Bio-Toilet", designed in collaboration with DRDO. Both eastern (squat) and western styles of toilets are provided. One side of the toilet is provided with a wash basin with water tap and sensor button, a soap dispenser, a mirror, an ash tray and a waste bin. On the other side there is the toilet itself, a water tap with mug, a handhold, the toilet paper holder and the sensor button for the toilet flush. The window in the toilet can be opened in the upper half. The toilet doors are of folding type to use the available space to an optimum.

Pantry

Each vehicle is equipped with a pantry for storing cold and hot meals which are to be served to the passengers at their seats. In the gangway between the passenger room door and the entrance is on one side the pantry and on the other side the storage area. The pantry is closed by a double leaf sliding door and the storage area by roller shutters. On the left side, a 15 litre water boiler, an 11 litre soup-warmer, a sink, and racks are provided. The other side is equipped with three hot cases, the bottle cooler, the refrigerator and the deep freezer for the 78 passengers. The storage area gives space for racks and also for the serving trolley.

Other equipment

On the outside wall of the toilet a waste bin and a fire extinguisher are located. The fire extinguisher on the power panel end is filled with carbon dioxide, the one on the other end with water. The vestibule is of UIC rubber type. The vestibule door is a double leaf stainless steel sliding door. On the left side the socket of the local 415 V supply is located. A 60 kVA transformer with copper winding transforms the power given by the generator car from 750 V to 415 V. All brake control equipment is centrally not at all located in a brake container. A main brake pressure reservoir of 125 litres and a service pressure reservoir of 75 litres are provided.