Chennai: Coaches with glass ceilings, rotatable chairs by April-end

Chennai: Rail travel lovers may soon be able to travel in vistadome coaches with glass ceilings and rotatable chairs as three such coaches fully designed and manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), are likely to be dispatched by April end, senior officials said.

The three coaches will be rolled out for trains in Araku Valley near Vishakapatnam, and in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The order has been placed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the Railway Board, and the coaches have been designed and manufactured from scratch at ICF,” said a senior ICF official.

“Two of the coaches are for Araku Valley while the third coach likely to be dispatched by April-end will be for Kashmir. The third coach is in the production line and the first two coaches are in the final stages for dispatch,” said the official.

The most striking features of the coaches will be glass ceilings, also known as vista dome, which will enable tourists to get a panoramic view of the surroundings. Places like Araku and Kashmir valleys, which attract tourists due to the pristine surroundings and breathtaking views, will be the first in the country to have these coaches.

Such coaches have helped boost tourism in places like Switzerland. The coaches will have infotainment facilities for passengers. Also fitted in the coaches will be rotating chairs in which people can move about according to the view.

“The cost of manufacturing a coach is about Rs 4 crore,” said another official. The glass ceilings can be made opaque electrically depending on the weather outside. Designed by the ICF and Research, Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO), the work started in 2015 and production of these coaches was supposed to have completed in 2016.