Switzerland comes to Srinagar: Indian Railways to introduce glass ceiling coaches

Train passengers and tourists can now look forward to travelling in state-of-the-art luxurious coaches having glass ceiling and equipped with infotainment system, similar to that in Switzerland.

The basic objective behind such coaches is to promote tourism and woo upscale tourists from both India and abroad, IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director AK Manocha said on Monday.

Jointly designed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC); Research, Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), and Integral Coach Factory at Perambur, Glass ceiling coaches will be operational in December this year.

“The first coach will be tagged in a regular train in the Kashmir Valley while the other two will be part of some train careening through the picturesque Araku Valley in Visakhapatnam,” he said.

The trains having such luxurious coaches, giving an aerial view, would be decided later, Manocha added.

“There are some trains with glass ceiling in foreign countries, like Switzerland, which enjoy the patronage of tourists. We believe such coaches would also give a fillip to rail tourism in India,” the IRCTC Chairman added.

Giving details of the project, Dham Ghaj Prasad, IRCTC Group General Manager said the coaches with glass top ceiling would be the first of its type in India and would rival the best anywhere in the world.These coaches are being manufactured at an estimated cost of around Rs 4 crore.

“Work on the project started in 2015 with a series of meetings on the specification of the coach design. The first such coach is all set to roll out this month (October) itself. The coaches will be ultra luxurious with rotatable chairs to provide the passengers an aerial view through partly glass ceiling,” he elaborated.

Further, the coaches will have ample leg space and also equipped with modern infotainment system for the benefit of tourists, he added.