INDIA’S Research Designs & Standards Organisation carried out a crash test on March 29 using a coach and a wagon ballasted to 120 tonnes with concrete.
A dozen organisations are involved in a project to develop a coach design for Indian Railways which offers improved collision performance. Rites and Transportation Technology Center representatives are aiding RDSO with the testing, which was carried out to verify the performance of a vehicle built by Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory.
The force of the collision was absorbed ’at those areas where damage to passengers would be minimised’, RDSO Director-General A K Rao told local media.
RDSO is now planning a further crash test in July. This will use two coaches to simulate a collision between two passenger trains. ’We will study the input in detail from the first test. If there are further possible improvements in the coach we will design coaches based on the latest inputs and conduct a second test’, said Rao.
