What are ‘slip coaches’ and ‘through coaches’?

June 27, 2019, 11:59 AM
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In India slip coach refers to a coach that is designated to terminate its journey at a station prior to the final destination of the rest of the train. The more accurate term is sectional carriage. The coach or coaches are left behind after being detached from the rest of the train. In India this is done only after the train comes to a halt; the vacuum and brake connections have to be tested before the rest of the train can leave.

The term ‘slip coach’ is from an earlier era, however. A long time back it was the practice in the UK to uncouple some cars or coaches on the run, without stopping (this was called ‘slipping’ the coaches), at some stations. In such an operation, the slip coach had its own special guard who controlled the detachment, and then braked the coach as it travelled under its own momentum towards the platform at the station. This avoided delays for the main part of the train which did not have to stop at the station. This practice continued for quite some time in the UK (until the 1960s), and slip coach usually refers to this practice in British terminology. But in India the term has come to mean coaches that are detached even though they are not slipped on the run.

E.g., 5014 Ranikhet Exp. from Kathgodam has 2 SL coaches and one AC-2T coach that are slip coaches for Dehradun. These are detached and attached to the 4265 Mail. Another slip coach (SL) for Jammu Tawi is detached and attached to the 3151 Express.

A through coach is like a slip coach, except that it is later re-attached to another train after being detached from the first one. Thus, the passengers in the coach do not have to change trains for their destination, even if no through train exists for that route.

Source – IFRCA.org

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