GUWAHATI: N. F. Railway has successfully converted five passenger carrying trains into completely consisting LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) type coaches instead of ICF (integral Coach Factory)-made coaches this year, thereby improving safety and comfort of these trains. A road-map for further conversion of other passenger-carrying trains into LHB-coach trains has also been prepared. Up till now, LHB type coaches were used in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and other premium trains only.
Linke Hofmann Busch coaches are the passenger coaches of Indian Railways that have been developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany (renamed Alstom LHB GmbH in 1998 after the takeover by Alstom) and mostly produced by Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, India.
The five trains that have been converted into LHB type are – 22512/22511 Kamakhya – Lokmanya Tilak Express, 15668/15667 Kamakhya – Gandhidham Express, 22501/22502 Bangalore – New Tinsukia Express, 15621/15622 Kamakhya – Anand Vihar Express and 15620/15619 Kamakhya – Gaya Express.
Further, two more trains – 12523/12524 New Jalpaiguri – New Delhi Express and 12505/12506 Guwahati – Anand Vihar Northeast Express – will also be converted to LHB type this year. Six more trains will be converted into LHB type in 2019-20 and four more will be converted into LHB type in 2020-21.
The LHB coaches have enhanced safety features, greater passenger comfort and better riding qualities. They can accommodate more passengers compared to ICF-made coaches and introduction of these coaches will increase overall carrying capacity of trains.