The Eastern Railway is converting a sleeper coach into a 28-bed isolation ward at its Kanchrapara workshop here, lending support to the government in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Having suspended its passenger train operations till April 14, the Indian Railways had been modifying compartments at its different workshops across the country, as part of its plan to set up isolation wards in 20,000 coaches.

The Kanchrapara workshop, on its part, is developing a sleeper coach into an isolation ward with four beds in each of its seven coupes, a senior official said.

'The Eastern Railway authority has instructed its workshops - at Lilua, Kanchrapara and Jamalpur - to develop isolation cabins in sleeper coaches.

'We will be providing all amenities available in a hospital ward. Better lighting and adequate toilet facilities are being arranged in the coaches,' the senior official at the Kanchrapara workshop added.