Mysuru: A guest lecture programme in association with the Indian Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) was held at Institution of Engineers-India (IEI) premises recently. The topic of the day was ‘Air Conditioning System and Operational Challenges of Railway Coaches.’

R. Suresh, Chairman, IEI Mysuru, presided over the function. D.K. Dinesh Kumar welcome the gathering and introduced the guest speaker — P. Sudhakara Reddy, Senior Section Engineer (Electrical), South Western Railway, Mysuru. Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said, “There is substantial improvement in the air conditioned Railway coaches these days.” He said that the Indian Railways has made rapid strides in the recent past and building hi-tech air conditioned coaches at Integral Coach Factory (ICF) near Chennai.

There are world class passenger comfort facilities being developed in this factory. Including Wi-Fi and entertainment facilities, there are also GPS enabled service for the passengers, he said.

Train 20, the proposed Higher-speed rail, long distance electric multiple unit which has been designed to replace the Rajdhani Express fleet of the Indian Railways, will chug by 2020, he said during the power point presentation.

ISHRAE President T.A. Prabhakar and Secretary Anil Kumar were present.