Things to know about fire-retardant coaches | Fusion - WeRIndia

Fire accidents are the most common and major mishaps occurring inside the coaches of Indian Railways. There were many such instances where a major fire broke out and led to the death of several passengers. There are many reasons for it.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) also pointed out the negligence of Railways on the safety rules.

In this context, Railways initiated several measures for passengers. Now, Indian Railways decided to develop fire-retardant coaches to improve passenger safety and reduce fire mishaps inside railway coaches.

The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Kapurthala developed these fire-retardant coaches to reduce the incidence of fire mishaps inside coaches.

The coaches are developed with fire-retardant materials. They will have fire extinguishers. They also have an automatic smoke detection system. Improved materials are used for all electoral fitting and fixtures, light fittings, terminal boards, and connectors etc.

Roof Mounted AC Package units (RMPUs) are provided for enhanced safety in LHB Air-Conditioned coaches. These coaches will have a reverse cycle feature for heating arrangements. With this, the same refrigerant circuit is used in reverse mode. That means the circuit which is used for cooling inside the coach during summer can be used for heating during the winter season.

At present, RMPUs have a resistance-based heating coil for heating purposes with which the risk of fire accidents is more. The new reverse cycle feature will improve the safety of passengers by reducing the risk of fire accidents inside coaches. Besides, they are more efficient.

Roof Mounted AC Package units have many advantages. They help maintain the temperature levels inside the AC coaches. They are easy to install and maintain. They also save time. They are made of standard stainless steel to cope with odd weather as well.

Currently, five fire-retardant coaches have been developed and equipped with these features. Railways will decide further based on the performance of these new coaches.

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