Pune: As a Diwali gift to its passengers, the Indian Railways has upgraded the rakes of Pragati Express, operating between Pune and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Mumbai. The train with the new look will depart from Pune on Sunday.
Thousands of passengers travel between the two cities daily. The rakes have been revamped under the Indian Railways’ Project Utkrisht.
It involved upgrading the rakes at a cost of Rs 60 lakh each. The upgrade involved major uplift to toilets with better fittings and mechanism for efficient flushing and better seats and interiors for the comfort of passengers.
“In line with its aim to upgrade ICF-design coaches of express trains, Indian Railways has completely revamped the 12125/12126 Pragati Express that runs from Pune to the CSMT railway station. The upgraded 12125/12126 Pragati Express will be pressed into service from November 4,” a statement released by Central Railway said.
According to Indian Railways, the rakes have been refurbished with several new features such as LED lights, new fans, passenger information system in AC coaches. The toilets now have ceramic tiles for better cleanliness, upgraded toilet amenities, custom-designed window ventilators in each washroom for air circulation. Each coach has a different, pleasing interior with colour coordinated vinyl film wall patterns and interior paint.
“Under this project, a total of 10 rakes belonging to Central Railway have been identified for revamping under Project Utkrisht. The Central Railway has also designed a special Utkrisht logo that will be used on all future Utkrisht rakes. In the first phase, Indian Railways plans to upgrade 140 rakes of Mail/Express trains by March 2019. In the second phase, 500 more rakes will be upgraded,” officials said.
New features
- Anti-graffiti vinyl wrapping in interiors
- Coach indication boards, braille stickers
- Toilets: Indigenous design ventilation window, anti-skid tiling and scrap mats, durable concealed pipelines and health faucets, fibre wash basins and wooden frame mirror
- Automatic hygiene and odour control system in coaches and toilets
- Stainless steel luggage racks
- Disposable head rest covers in AC coaches
- Roller blind curtains on windows of AC coaches
