Surprising meaning behind white/yellow stripes on train coaches 

All of us have experience of train journey. During journey, we must have come across several Railway signs and symbols. Some of them are very important for us. One such symbol is coloured stripes on coaches. 

Let’s know what they mean.

If you are travelling on a blue ICF coach, you can see yellow or white stripes made above the last window.  White stripes indicate unreserved second class coaches. For passengers waiting for their train on the platform, it is sometimes difficult for them to locate the general coach. So, when a train enters the station, they can easily identify the general coach from the symbol. 

If you come across diagonal yellow stripes painted on blue and red coaches, you have to understand it that the coaches are meant for physically disabled and sick passengers. So, physically disabled and sick passengers waiting for their trains on the platform can spot their coaches easily.  

Similarly, you can also find green and red stripes on grey coach. While green stripes suggest the coach is meant for women, red stripes indicate first-class cabins in EMU/MEMU trains, preferably on Mumbai local ones.

It is worth mentioning, Indian Railways is the largest rail network in Asia and second largest under one management in the world. The first passenger train with 14 carriages was flagged from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Thane on April 16, 1853, carrying 400 passengers and covering a distance of 34 km. 

Since then, April 16 has been observed as Indian Rail Transport Day.