Why is the Cross Mark on back of last coach of a train ??

Most of the trains in our Indian Railways have a yellow or red cross sign on the backside of the last coach. You may have wondered what is the use of this sign. It indicates that it is the last coach of this train. Railway personnel keep noticing this sign on every passing train. If they find any train without this cross sign than it is assumed that some coaches of the train get separated from the train and they immediately start some emergency procedures.

Apart from this cross sign there is also a small plate on which LV is written . LV stands for Last Vehicle. This plate also signifies that it is the last coach of this train.

For the night, LED tail lamp is used as last vehicle indicator. The tail lamp unit has the highest reliability under severe environmental conditions of operations of coaching and freight trains i.e dust, humidity, high ambient temperature , shocks and vibrations.