So I recently made my first trip on the 'new' Third AC Economy Coach of Indian Railways. My solo trips are times for such 'adventures.' Family trips are almost always AC First. It started from when we were just a couple, and not a family. We very much wanted to go on the Palace on Wheels for our honeymoon. Turned out the that the tickets are still priced for the First World tourists, with a figure that could be the down payment on a small flat. So the next best thing was a Coupe in AC First of Indian Railways! Since then, we could not decide when to put a stop to the practice, and 'downgrade'. I have travelled more on the class out of pocket, as compared to when, as an officer in the Railways, I was entitled to travel in the class by paying one third of the fare difference from AC 2. But, I digress. I was telling about the AC 3 Tier Economy, or, the M Class.
I decided to dip below the 'traditional' AC 3 (the B Class) not because of the difference in fare (it is hardly significant). However, the upper class did not have the side lower seat, which I so covet in these solo journeys. This one had them vacant, and I grabbed the chance. Now, writing from aboard the same, surfing the Rohilkhand countryside view from the large LHB window, I can confess that this is much better than the AC 3 (B Class). Frankly, comparing side lower to side lower berths, this is better than AC 2 (A Class)! (As an aside, nothing rankles more than drawing the side upper seat on AC 2, after paying that fare!)
The reasons for my saying so are concrete. Anyway, side berths on any AC class have been the same. This one, however, has two hollow 'boards' on both sides. The board incorporates the steps for climbing the higher berths. However, inside the hollows, there are the AC ducts. They open into personalized vents on each berth. The side lower berth gets two vents! Thus, the biggest problem of side berths, the lack of circulation, is obviated. Then, there is always that fear ( and sometimes events) of one rolling out into the passage. Often, limbs hang out and get hit by moving passengers. Not here. The boards provide a good stop to the feet, preventing any passage fouling. The head side board is a good support with which to enjoy the window view. The boards sort of give the whole coach a modular feel. Though it houses a dozen more passengers than the B class, they are all compartmentalized, and not 'in your face'. If the designers at RDSO get a bit innovative and extend these boards a little bit more, the privacy factor would improve a lot more, and with the personalized AC vents, charging points and the soothing upholstery, this could very well be the AC 3 Tier Premium!
Of course, there is that one issue. The dozen more people are housed against the same old 4 cubicles of toilets. So, technically that chinaware would see to some 18% more pair of arses. That surely puts the 'Economy' part back in the play. While technically that may be true, in reality, in these days of interconnected coaches, every Class is vulnerable to the arse. When you gotta go, you gotta go! If not in this coach, the toilets of the next coach shimmer like mirage just across that vestibule passage! Gone are the old days when coaches were on the whole isolated, and the toilets were just a hole in the sheet! These days these zero discharge toilets preserve and display the human effusions from across classes and coaches quite democratically. So the extra dozen of this coach, in reality belong to the whole train, and sky is the limit!
So, here I sit, on a train getting delayed every minute, but not troubling me, because the view is good. I am elated that I pay a hundred rupees less than the B class for this berth, and I pity the bloke in AC 2 side upper berth, who had paid five hundred rupees more for that privilege. So that brings me to my point. Indian Railways should start charging differentially for seats, and should let the passengers choose. There are a lot of Quora answers on how Railway berths are alloted so that weight is distributed well. I don't think that is true. An LHB coach weighs 40 tons. Suppose all 80 of passengers weight a 100 kilos each, and they all lean on one wall of the coach! It is an extra 8 ton on one side of the coach. Will it topple? Let's take more numbers. The LHB coach is 3.2 m wide. The broad gauge track is 1.676 m wide. Net over hang on both sides is 1.524 m, and on one side is 0.762 (interestingly quite close to width of Z class narrow gauge track). This means that for a given wheel, 0.762 m of the coach width 'hangs' on its outside and the rest 2.438 m hangs inside. Looking at a set of the 4 wheels inline under a coach, dividing the weight of the coach as per the ratio hanging on either side, one can say that 9.5 ton of coach hangs outside and the rest 30.5 tons hang inside. Toppling, however, depends not on forces, but on their moments. Assuming the coach weight is evenly distributed, the force should be seen as acting at half the distance of the overhang. Considering that the weight of the outside walls acts totally on the edge (and cannot be assumed to be distributed along the width of the coach), we may, approximately, put the action point at 3/4 length of the overhang. So, this way 5.43 Ton-metre (not an SI unit) of moment tries to topple the coach outside, while 55.77 Ton-metre of moment tries to set it down on the other wheel. Assuming our 8 Ton body of passengers is leaning on the edge of the coach, it still adds 6 more Ton-metre to the toppling moment. Yeah, the coach is not going to topple if people start getting their choice of berths.
So, what's the issue? Lethargy and inertia, maybe. However, even a frequent AC First traveller would know the struggle to get that Coupe allotted, or else feeling like a short changed AC 2 passenger in a 4 Berth Cabin (if you have to stare at strangers while getting stared back, the whole point of AC First is lost!) Allotting that Coupe or Cabin is the absolute discretion of the charting officer. We, in the know, beseech the almighty charting officer to bless us thus. Others simply take a chance. However, I would prefer paying a slight premium for a confirmed Coupe, even above the high fare, instead of waiting to see what the Lord Charting Officer has ordained three hours prior to my departure. If given a choice, I would pay more for an M Class side lower, than i would for an A Class side upper berth. Maybe, just maybe, then those entitled arses, who develop arthritis just on spotting a single male with a lower berth, wont come claiming those as if it were their birthright!
TLDR, AC 3 Economy Class is very good, at least from a side lower perspective. Indian Railways should start pricing seats differentially on choice. Maybe that would deter the entitled beings who develop arthritis simply on spotting a single male in possesion of a lower berth!.
