CHENNAI (Metro Rail News): Integral Coach Factory (ICF) will produce metro coaches for the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (Maha-Metro) this year, which has been entrusted to develop metro train services for the cities of Nagpur and Pune. According to ICF General Manager AK Agarwal, all 75 of the Vande Bharat trains—which are expected to be unveiled by August 15 of next year—will be manufactured there. This was announced on Monday during celebrations for the country’s 75th Independence Day.
ICF is the first railway production facility to make coaches for Metro Rail Corporation which is a railway subsidiary. ICF is currently making coaches for the Indian Railways-owned Kolkata Metro’s north-south corridor. However, for the east-west corridor, it purchases coaches from China (KMRCL).
The number of coaches, production costs, and other factors related to building metro coaches for Maha-Metro are being worked out, according to ICF official sources. A representative stated, “An MOU will soon be signed between Maha-Metro and ICF”.
A K Agarwal stated that the factory intended to produce 3,500 coaches in approximately 50 different models. “These will include Vande Bharat rakes, and the Vistadome dining car, which will be operational in Gujarat by September. There will also be a Gatishakti freight train on the Vande Bharat platform and a steam engine-themed heritage train with electric propulsion on the Vande Bharat platform,” he added.
Any metrolite project under construction or in proposal stage in India???