Open Posts for inputs - Some more safety points inside the railway coaches
Small improvements for safety of passengers inside railway coaches
1) In 3 Tier sleeper coaches &AC 3-Tier coaches, the middle berth is suspended by two chains hanging from the top berth. The ends of the chains have bent stainless steel plate hooks which fits in the rectangular groove below the middle berth. Please see attached photograph.
This system is dangerous as many passengers are not careful to see that the hook ends have fitted well inside the grooves. Also I have seen the some hook ends get deformed and do not fit in properly. If by chance the hooks slip, the middle berth along with the sleeping passenger will fall on the passenger sleeping in the lower berth and injuring him / her badly.
Also during the day, while the middle berth is hung down from it’s hinges, the chain with the hook is fixed to a slot below the upper berth. Here also if the same is not properly fixed by the passenger, it can fall and hit the sitting passenger’s head & faces.
Solution lies in hinging the middle berth up and securing it by swinging stainless steel plates which should go inside planned grooves in the side of the middle berth. The middle berth should be suspended from upper berth by fixed chainsor by scissor type link joints from the sides of the middle berth. The system will not be passenger dependent as it is with the existing design.
2) During the day, the lower berth is hinged up and two swing type hooks are supposed to be fitted inside two holes in the lower berth on either side. The design is faulty as the end of the swing type hook having a cylindrical pin moves in a circular path and this makes it difficult to fix it in a vertical hole in the lower berth. The only way is to make the hole much bigger and somehow make the ends fit.
Also this swinging hook is located at a place where a passenger’s head can get injured at the back side, if he / she are not careful while sitting on the lower berth in the swing down position for sleeping mode. This happens mostly in the morning when the passenger gets up, but still keeps the bed in the sleeping position. I have seen very small children jumping on the lower bed and getting their head injured on these hooks.
Solution lies in securing it by swinging stainless steel plates which should go inside planned grooves in the side of the lower berth. The position of these swinging plates will be at two extreme ends behind the pipes for stairs to go up to the upper berth and hence will be away from the passenger’s head area.
3) In 3 Tier sleeper coaches &AC 3-Tier coaches, the round pipe stairs to go up to the middle berth or the upper berth are not very well designed. It is somehow manageable while going up, but not safe while coming down. I have seen ladies to find it very difficult to go up to the middle and upper berths. I have also seen ladies falling down to the floor while getting down.
Solution lies in better design and positioning of the footsteps. Instead of round pipes, the design could have flat footsteps, slanted out so that it is safe for both going up and coming down. The mechanism could be a swing out and in a locked position while using the stairs and can then be folded back so that it does not protrude in the passenger passage area. There can be various alternate designs which should be analyzed and the best design adopted.
I can support the railway coach design engineers if I am contacted at the address given below or in my mail ID : royaru@gmail.com
Best regards,
A.K.Roy, L-414, Jal Vayu Towers, Sector – 56, Gurgaon – 122011, Haryana
PS. : I am unable to upload photographs. more
1) In 3 Tier sleeper coaches &AC 3-Tier coaches, the middle berth is suspended by two chains hanging from the top berth. The ends of the chains have bent stainless steel plate hooks which fits in the rectangular groove below the middle berth. Please see attached photograph.
This system is dangerous as many passengers are not careful to see that the hook ends have fitted well inside the grooves. Also I have seen the some hook ends get deformed and do not fit in properly. If by chance the hooks slip, the middle berth along with the sleeping passenger will fall on the passenger sleeping in the lower berth and injuring him / her badly.
Also during the day, while the middle berth is hung down from it’s hinges, the chain with the hook is fixed to a slot below the upper berth. Here also if the same is not properly fixed by the passenger, it can fall and hit the sitting passenger’s head & faces.
Solution lies in hinging the middle berth up and securing it by swinging stainless steel plates which should go inside planned grooves in the side of the middle berth. The middle berth should be suspended from upper berth by fixed chainsor by scissor type link joints from the sides of the middle berth. The system will not be passenger dependent as it is with the existing design.
2) During the day, the lower berth is hinged up and two swing type hooks are supposed to be fitted inside two holes in the lower berth on either side. The design is faulty as the end of the swing type hook having a cylindrical pin moves in a circular path and this makes it difficult to fix it in a vertical hole in the lower berth. The only way is to make the hole much bigger and somehow make the ends fit.
Also this swinging hook is located at a place where a passenger’s head can get injured at the back side, if he / she are not careful while sitting on the lower berth in the swing down position for sleeping mode. This happens mostly in the morning when the passenger gets up, but still keeps the bed in the sleeping position. I have seen very small children jumping on the lower bed and getting their head injured on these hooks.
Solution lies in securing it by swinging stainless steel plates which should go inside planned grooves in the side of the lower berth. The position of these swinging plates will be at two extreme ends behind the pipes for stairs to go up to the upper berth and hence will be away from the passenger’s head area.
3) In 3 Tier sleeper coaches &AC 3-Tier coaches, the round pipe stairs to go up to the middle berth or the upper berth are not very well designed. It is somehow manageable while going up, but not safe while coming down. I have seen ladies to find it very difficult to go up to the middle and upper berths. I have also seen ladies falling down to the floor while getting down.
Solution lies in better design and positioning of the footsteps. Instead of round pipes, the design could have flat footsteps, slanted out so that it is safe for both going up and coming down. The mechanism could be a swing out and in a locked position while using the stairs and can then be folded back so that it does not protrude in the passenger passage area. There can be various alternate designs which should be analyzed and the best design adopted.
I can support the railway coach design engineers if I am contacted at the address given below or in my mail ID : royaru@gmail.com
Best regards,
A.K.Roy, L-414, Jal Vayu Towers, Sector – 56, Gurgaon – 122011, Haryana
PS. : I am unable to upload photographs. more
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Dear Prof Sinha, Thanks. Hope we shall meet sometime in near future. With warm personal regards, A.K.Roy more
Aug 18
Dear Arun Roy Sir, I am glad you have not given up. Sometimes the real life seems to begin after retirement. Maybe all your ideas and experience will finally be put to use through the connections you are building now. I know that some people in India are very bright but unfortunately their innovative ideas are often ignored by babus and lallus. I often ask how many inventions have come out of India in the past 60 years? The last answer I got from one of the top government officers is "we have published more papers per dollar spent than USA has". I did not repeat the question or continue the conversation. I will be in India soon, maybe we can meet up and talk about a few things. I will send a private message to you when I am there. Who knows, maybe in the next 5-10 years a lot of things will improve in India. Innovation, innovative designs, manufacturing etc. would be emphasized, according to Prime Minister's speech. Warm regards. more
Aug 18
Dear Prof. Sinha, Thanks a lot for your encouraging remarks. Unfortunately in India, nobody bothers. I had given these suggestions earlier also but nobody contacted me. I had given suggestions to improve the Passport Office operation in New Delhi with improved plan of the passport office hall, improved operation methods etc. , but again nobody contacted. I had done several machine / equipment design earlier, many of them first time in India and could have been patented. These resulted in getting the coveted 'VASVIK INDUSTRIAL AWARD' in Mechanical Sciences & Technology in 1991. But I had never tried to apply for any patent. At the last phase of my active life, when I was the Executive Director of an automobile company, I thought that let me apply for at least one patent. I submitted my patent application in 2011 for an automatic system for disabled persons to board a bus. But as on date even after three years, it is still 'under examination' and I have not been called even once to explain what I want to do. This is the state of affairs in India. Hence of late I stopped giving any suggestions anywhere. However, only three days back I received Mr. Rajendra Pratap Gupta's invitation to join 'Local Circles' and I saw that there is a plan to contact The Indian Railways after collecting all suggestions. Hence I got interested and gave 5 postings giving some suggestions. Best regards, A.K.Roy more
Aug 17
I agree with you. The design is probably 70 year old. We have to rethink, redesign, use redundant safety features, and test a 100 pieces with 4 times the load before manufacturing and implementing. In fact, a lot of other things need to be redesigned by the bright engineers. I see a lot of sharp corners, misfitting joints, rattling parts, non-functional bathroom door locks, unsafe electrical cabinets, etc. Looking at how some other countries design trains, (e.g. Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Korea , etc.), taking some ideas, thinking about Indian situation (poor maintenance, overloaded, possibility of theft, etc.) and redesigning everything will not only create some jobs, it will be good for the passengers. I know that the Swiss are still very good in safety, design and quality, we can collaborate with their companies. Of course, I have seen some improvements also, but we can do much better. I hope the Ministry of Railways contacts you. We need very good engineers who are keen observers who can find faults and also can solve the problems, almost perfectionists. There is a shortage of problem solvers in many fields. Engineering education needs to focus on that. regards. more
Aug 17
