ICF strikes 2,500th mark for the first time: aims to craft aluminium coaches from 2020

General Manager of Integral Coach Factory S. Mani declared on Saturday 31st March, 2018 that the company will start manufacturing aluminium coaches from 2020. This is going to be a significant step towards crafting light-weight rail coaches, at par with international standards.

At an event to mark the achievement of 2,500 coaches in 2017-18, Mani made an announcement that ICF rolled out a total of 2,503 coaches of various capacities on March 31, 2018, adding that the company will export the coaches to Sri Lanka.

According to ICF higher officials, the manufacturing unit of Indian Railways crossed 2,500th-mark for the first time.

“We had manufactured 2,277 coaches in 2016-17. That feat remained as our top performance until we crossed 2,500 today (Saturday). Our 2500th coach with 102 seats will go to Eastern Railway. We have manufactured 39 more coaches than Railway Board's target,” one official said. Senior most employees of ICF C. Bakthavatchalam and V. Rajagopal flagged off the 2,500th coach in presence of Mani. Train-18 would be almost at par with international standards, while Train-20 will be manufactured with aluminium coaches and also meet all the international standards, said Mani to journalists.

According to ICF officials, “Starting from Trian-20, aluminium coaches will be manufactured in significant numbers after 2020”. The officials of ICF also said that exporting coaches to abroad will not take place for the first time, as the company has been doing so since 1970 to as many as 14 African and Asian countries.