Maligaon, April 3 (MExN): The NF Railway authority has decided to upgrade the 22501 / 22502 New Tinsukia – Bangalore City – New Tinsukia express to modern LHB by replacing the conventional rake. The train will start from New Tinsukia with full LHB composition starting April 6. This will be the 10th fully LHB rake of NF Railway. The LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany are designed for an operating speed up to 160 km/h and could go up to 200 km/h. The length of 23.54 m and a width of 3.24 m provide a higher passenger carrying capacity per coach apart from better passenger safety & comfort. The LHB coaches are made of stainless steel and the interiors are made of aluminium which makes them lighter as compared to the conventional rakes. The coaches are also considered to be "anti-telescopic", which means they do not get turned over or flip in case of a collision resulting lesser casualty. A press note from the NF Railway informed that the new composition of the train with LHB rake will be one AC two tier, four AC three tiers, fourteen three tier sleeper class coaches, two brake, luggage cum generator car and one AC hot buffet car. Later on general second class coaches will also be added. It may be mentioned that the NF Railway has already set out with the target of converting all short distance passenger trains into DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit) rakes. For this Railway board has already been approached for additional rakes and DEMU maintenance facilities are being developed in all divisions of the railway.
