A Comparative Study of Thermal Environment Between Two Varieties of Pantry Car Available in Indian Railway

Pantry car workers play an important role in the catering system of the railways by serving onboard passengers for longer distance and duration. According to Government record, Indian railway has 338 pairs of trains running with pantry cars. Most of the train's coaches are Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and few are Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) make model. Due to changes in internal thermal facilities, it is expected to have different thermal experience while working in such situation. To understand the above, a study was formulated with an objective to compare and measure few environmental variables and thermal comfort of pantry car workers at both models. Total 29 pantry car workers (chefs and waiters) participated in this study, conducted during 2017 summer session. Environmental variables were measured using handheld anemometer. Psychometric chart was used to assess the position of relative air temperature at both types of workplaces. Analysis revealed that positions of relative air temperature at both pantry cars were out of comfort zone of ASHRAE standard. Further, all thermal variables were compared between both types of pantry car. Results revealed that there was a significant difference of dry-bulb temperature between both types. On the other hand, there were no considerable difference in humidity and airflow. It can be concluded that although the internal facilities are very different between these two types of pantry cars, the thermal comfort and variables are quite similar in both situations. A detailed study is required to understand the causal factors of the same.