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‘Replace shabby Tejas Express coaches with VB rakes’

New Delhi: Highlighting the dilapidated condition of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has written to the Railways so that a Vande Bharat rake can be allocated to run the corporate train. Malfunctioning biotoilets and LCD screens and water leakage in coaches were some of the issues red-flagged by the IRCTC, since July, in its letters to the Railway Board and the Western Railways, the zone in which the train runs. “One of the Vande Bharat rakes be kindly allocated for the corporate train Tejas Express with a composition of 16 coaches,” an IRCTC letter to the Railway Board and the Western Railways read. “This (providing Vande Bharat train) will not only put an end to bevy of passenger complaints being received … for rake deficiencies rather it shall also solve all the woes of the mechanical department both in maintenance as well as flexibility in spares management,” it added.

A rake is a line of coupled passenger coaches or freight wagons or railcars (excluding the locomotive) that typically move together. The letters also said that the train was being maintained on an “ad hoc basis in a piecemeal way” which is not benefitting the premium train service. “The non-maintenance of coaches has resulted in deteriorating the condition of the coaches and thereby tarnishing the brand Tejas and arising complaints from passengers travelling on board,” another letter read. In the latest letter earlier this month, the IRCTC raised the issue of no support for the maintenance of highend equipment on board by the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) after the expiry of the annual maintenance contract (AMC). Among other incidents in the IRCTC-operated Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express referred to in the letters is the collapse of a ceiling panel, which occurred twice in the last year, in which passengers suffered head injuries. Other issues highlighted include choked toilets, leaking roof, electrical panel faults, faulty infotainment systems, non-functional GPS and faulty coach entry main doors

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