Indian Railways—travel in Charminar Express with new LHB coaches from November 2019

Indian Railways will soon be upgrading Charminar Express with LHB coaches. According to the news reports, train number 12759 Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central – Hyderabad – Puratchi Thalaivar and train number 12760 Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Charminar Express will be transformed to LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches. The Southern Railway zone tweeted that the service of train number 12759 will be provided with LHB coaches from November 5, 2019, and on the other hand, train number 12760 will start functioning with LHB coaches from November 4, 2019.
Reportedly, the current coach composition of Charminar Express features an AC first class coach, four AC 2 tier coaches, two AC 3 tier coaches, three general second class coaches, twelve sleeper class coaches and two luggage cum brake coaches. However, after the aforementioned revision, the composition of Charminar Express will be AC first class coach (1), AC 2 tier coaches (3), AC 3 tier coaches (4), sleeper class coaches (10), general second class coaches (2) and luggage cum brake van coaches (2).


The LHB coaches are based on German technology and provide better comfort in comparison to Integral Coach Factory (ICF)-design coaches.

The LHB coaches are conducive to anti-climbing features which prevents piling up of coaches on top of another in the event of a rail mishap. This helps in reducing the chances of passenger deaths and injuries. Starting from 2018 to 2019, Indian Railways are only manufacturing LHB coaches at its production units instead of ICF-design coaches.