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Anup Ghosh posted in All India Loco Running Staff.

Anup Ghosh 9:05pm Sep 9 The first ever air conditioned double-Decker train is likely to be launched shortly on the Howrah-Dhanbad route as it has obtained all necessary clearances from the Chief Commissioner Railway Safety (CCRS) after successful trial runs. "The problems encountered during trial runs like coaches touching the edge of the platform have been sorted out and the Howrah-Dhanbad AC double-Decker train with eight coaches would be flagged off soon," said a senior Railway Ministry official. The train will have complete sitting accommodation with each coach having a capacity of 128 passengers as compared to 78 passengers in Shatabdi chair cars, thus increasing the sitting space by almost 70 per cent. Though the AC double-Decker coaches are designed to run between 130 km and 160 km per hour, CCRS clearance has been given to run the train between 100 km and 110 km per hour. While the width of normal coach is 3,245 MM, AC double- decker coach has 3,135 MM width. "The kinetic profile of double-Decker coaches were infringing upon certain platforms during the initial trial runs. That is why those platforms were being modified on Howrah-Dhanbad route," he said. The official added that railways conducted successful trial runs after the modification of platforms and space for the two decks has been generated by optimally using the well space between the two bogies. The fare structure and timings of the first AC double-Decker train are being worked out, he said.