Railway Officer Turns Abandoned Coach into a Mobile Hospital in Maharashtra

The coach has consulting rooms for physicians and specialists, an ECG and blood collection unit, a gynaecological examination area, and a dental chair.

An abandoned air-conditioned coach has been converted into a mobile hospital, operating in the Bhusawal division of the Central Railway, Maharashtra.

Named Rudra, it is India’s first railway hospital coach, created to provide medical services to employees and their families in remote locations.

The project was led by Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Ity Pandey, who identified a lack of healthcare access for railway staff posted in distant stations. A discarded AC three-tier coach was brought from Matunga depot to Bhusawal and repurposed in the local workshop.

Conversion & Facilities

The workshop team stripped the coach to its frame and rebuilt it into consulting rooms, diagnostic bays, and procedure space, installing partitions, flooring, and medical fittings.

The refurbishment was carried out in-house using the divisional hospital’s budget, requiring no additional central allocation.

Inside, the coach has consulting rooms for physicians and specialists, an ECG and blood collection unit, a gynaecological examination area, and a dental chair.

Space has also been created for minor procedures, vaccinations and routine screenings. Telemedicine links connect patients with distant specialists.

Facilities include medicine storage, refrigeration for vaccines, wash basins and sterilisation units, allowing the coach to function as a compact clinic.

Rudra offers consultations with general physicians and specialists such as surgeons, gynaecologists, paediatricians, orthopaedic doctors, and dentists. Each patient receives a unique ID for continuity of care at the divisional hospital. Medicines are dispensed on board, and referrals are made when further treatment is required.

Camps are conducted fortnightly across different stations. The service involves about 60 doctors, supported by engineering, telecom and operations staff who manage logistics and coach movement.

Rollout & Reach

The first camp was held on 18 January 2025 at Chalisgaon station, treating 259 patients, followed by 30 January at Murtizapur, serving 291. Camps have since taken place at Burhanpur, Nandgaon, and Akola, covering nine districts. By late March, the mobile hospital had provided about 1,266 consultations.

A second coach is being prepared to expand services to ophthalmology and dental care, with plans to add a small operating theatre for cataract surgery and minor dental procedures. Officials say the project’s outcomes will be monitored before considering wider adoption in other divisions.

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