‘Railways poised for a big leap’

Inaugurating the International Rail Coach Expo (IRCE) here on Thursday, Governor Banwarilal Purohit lauded the Indian Railways and the Integral Coach Factory for planning various infrastructure modernisation projects.

In particular, he mentioned the high-speed train from Ahmedabad to Mumbai (to be operational in 2022), redevelopment of 400 stations to monetise railway space, doubling of tracks and electrification of the entire railway network (scheduled to be completed by 2022).

He appreciated the Indian Railways, which has the fourth largest railway network in the world, for organising the rail coach expo at the ICF for the first time in the State, as the railways was poised for a quantum leap in business and manufacturing.

Ashwani Lohani, Chairman, Railway Board, said the Indian Railways was going through an important phase marked by consolidation and growth. He said much was expected from the ICF in terms of developing and delivering the new Train 18 and Train 20. Train 18, an electrical multiple unitvariant, is being indigenously developed by the ICF. He said a new signal equipment to prevent train accidents would be commissioned by next year.

S. Mani, General Manager, ICF, said improvement in quality and technology would be the new focus. R. Dinesh, Chairman, CII Southern Region, said the expo was set to be a big draw as the train and coach manufacturing sector in the South, with business potential of ₹2,000 crore to ₹2,500 crore, was forecast to grow five-fold in the near future.