ICF to make coaches for Maha Metro, Vande Bharat

CHENNAI: The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai is all set to produce metro train coaches for the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd  (Maha-Metro), which has been entrusted to develop metro train services for Pune and Nagpur cities. Besides, all the 75 trains of Vande Bharat, planned to be introduced by August 15 next year, will be produced at ICF, said its General Manager AK Agarwal during celebrations of 75th Independence Day here on Monday. 

ICF is the first railway production unit to produce coaches for Metro Rail Corporation, which is not fully owned by the railways. At present, ICF is producing coaches for the Kolkata Metro (north-south corridor), which belongs to the Indian Railways. However, it procures coaches from China for the east-west corridor (KMRCL).  

Official sources from the ICF said the number of coaches, production cost, and other aspects of building metro coaches for Maha-Metro are being worked out. “An MOU will soon be signed between Maha-Metro and ICF,” said an official. 

In another significant development, the railways dropped its earlier plans to build Vande Bharat rakes at the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, and Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli. “Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, who recently inspected the ICF, said all the 75 rakes of Vande Bharat (version 2.0) will be built here,” said Agarwal while addressing the gathering At M Arun Sports Complex (ICF Stadium). 

Revealing that ICF is planning to manufacture 3,500 coaches in about 50 variants, Agarwal said prestigious products like Vistadome Dining car, which will be running in Gujarat by this September, Gatishakti Freight Train in the Vande Bharat Platform and Steam Engine themed Heritage Train with electric propulsion in the Vande Bharat Platform will also be built. He further added that Garib Rath air-conditioned 3-tier coaches that facilitate AC travel at cheaper ticket fares will also be developed at ICF.