Indian Railways To Have Aircraft Like Pressurised Cabins On World’s Highest Track Between Leh And Manali 

The world’s highest railway track in Leh will have another feather in its cap: Pressurized coaches, similar to the ones used in aircraft. This is being planned to help passengers breathe easily in the region’s high-altitude terrain. Usually, the air gets progressively thinner as one goes farther away from the sea level and it becomes harder to breathe when flying at great heights. Thus, the air in the aircraft cabins is adjusted to near-sea levels.

In September of this year (2018), many Jet Airways passengers complained of nosebleeds and breathing issues as the pilots had forgotten to switch on the cabin pressurisation system.

The strategically important 465 km Bilaspur-Manali-Leh line, is being built along the India-China border, as reported by Press Trust of India. The project which costs around Rs 83,360 crore, will be 5,360 metres above the sea level. D R Gupta, Chief Engineer (Construction), Northern Railway, D R Gupta says, "Special pressurised rolling stock to deal with lack of oxygen will have to be used in these trains as passengers might feel uneasy because of the high altitude. These will be like the pressurised cabins used by aircraft to maintain the oxygen levels inside,"

The only other high-altitude railway line that uses pressurised cabins is in China. However, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Line constructed at a relatively lower height of about 2000 metres.