SCR increases sleeper coaches in six trains
The additional coaches will be attached to the Secunderabad-Bhubaneswar (train no. 17016/17015) Vishaka Express, Hyderabad-Mumbai (22731/22732) superfast express, and Hyderabad-Mumbai (12701/12702) Hussain Sagar superfast express. The 12 additional coaches across the six trains would accommodate over 1,000 more passengers in sleeper class daily.
TOI's report earlier had highlighted that several superfast express trains reduced sleeper coaches from 10-12 to merely three to six.
On the other hand, AC coaches were increased from about 6 to 12, making it tough for passengers to secure a berth.
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According to SCR, the standard coach composition of the Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB), a German rake, is 22 coaches, where the minimum number of sleeper coaches will be six. However, Hussain Sagar express was running with 18 coaches, due to platform constraints at Mumbai CSMT terminal.
"Since the train is not running with standard rules, it is now proposed to increase the sleeper coaches from two to four. Similarly, the number of sleeper coaches in Visakha express will be increased from three to six," said a senior SCR official.
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