Roof insulation in COVID-19 non-ac isolation coaches at high temperature areas: Chairman Railway Board

The Railways will insulate the roofs of COVID-19 isolation coaches deployed in areas which experience high temperatures to make their interiors cooler and more comfortable for patients, Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav said Monday.

New Delhi: After witnessing concerns over the COVID isolation coaches, Indian Railways has decided to provide roof insulation to them at high-temperature areas, informed Railway Board Chairman, Vinod Kumar Yadav, on Monday.

"We had prepared these isolation coaches while following the suggestions of experts for preferring non-AC coaches for isolation purposes of suspected or confirmed COVID cases. But now after the concerns were raised, it has been decided that roof insulation will be provided by Railways for cooling of these non-AC isolation coaches at high-temperature areas," said CRB, during a press conference.

He also clarified that these isolation coaches are meant to be used when the health infrastructure of various states gets exhausted for the COVID-19 cases. "COVID Coach Centers are a contribution to the national cause, aimed to supplement the shortage of beds in various states. Suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients will be kept in separate coaches as per the guidelines of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," he added.

So far, Railways has received a request for these isolation coaches from 3 states- Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. At least 50 isolation coaches with 800 beds have already been deployed in the national capital. However, none of them is being used yet.

As many as 5231 coaches have been prepared by the Railways till now. Yadav said that these COVID Care Centers will be provided to various states as per their demand.

"These train coaches have been modified into COVID-19 isolation and Care Centres with necessary facilities. These coaches will be under the complete care of chief medical officers of the state government and it will have oxygen cylinders as well to meet any emergency situation," said VK Yadav.

On the issue of resumption of passenger services, Yadav informed that Central and Western Railways have allowed running Suburban trains for the people associated with essential services. "Last night we had a request from the Maharashtra government to run suburban trains. We have allowed the Central and Western Railways to run these trains for essential workers and e-passes will also be issued to them," he said.

While mentioning about the Shramik Special Trains, Chairman Railway Board stated that around 60 lakh migrant workers have been transported back to their home states in 4450 Shramik Special Trains till now.

He mentioned, "On June 3, we received a request for 171 more Shramik Special Trains from various states. We have run more than that. Now, only a few migrants have been left to travel."

When asked about the revenue collection from Shramik Special trains, VK Yadav replied, "The average ticket fare for Shramik special trains was Rs 600 and around 60 lakh migrants have travelled in these trains, so the total revenue can be calculated through that. The fare was the same as per the normal Mail/Express trains. However, only 15% of the operating cost has been recovered from the states, rest was borne by Indian Railways."