Integral Coach Factory

Last updated

Integral Coach Factory
Company type Government factory
Industry Rail transport
Founded2 October 1955;69 years ago (1955-10-02)
Headquarters Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Area served
 Asia-Pacific
Africa
Key people
U. Subba Rao [1]
(General Manager)
Products
Production output
4,166 coaches (2019–20)
2,702 coaches (2022–23) [2]
Number of employees
9,300 (2024) [2]
Parent Indian Railways
Website icf.indianrailways.gov.in

Integral Coach Factory is an Indian manufacturer of rail coaches. Established in 1955, it is located in Perambur in Chennai and is the largest rail coach manufacturer in the world. It is owned and operated by the Indian Railways and is the oldest amongst the five rake production units of the Indian Railways. While the facility initially manufactured ICF coaches, it currently manufactures LHB coaches and electric multiple units including the semi-high speed Vande Bharat train-sets.

Contents

History

After Indian Independence, the Government of India wanted to reduce the import of rail coaches to cater to the increasing traffic of the Indian Railways. In the railway budget for 1949–50, then Minister of Transport and Railways, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar announced the intention to establish a railway coach factory in India. [3]

In 1949, a technical agreement was concluded with Swiss Cars and Elevator Manufacturing Corporation, a Zurich-based company for technical assistance and transfer of coach building technology. [4] A basic steel shell was designed as a prototype by the Swiss company which would form the basis of coaches to be manufactured in the new facility. [3] [5]

In 1951, the site for the factory was chosen at Perambur, a suburb of Madras and the construction began. [4] A further extended agreement was signed in 1953 for the Swiss company to supply tools and machines to set up the factory. [3] The Integral Coach Factory is one of the earliest production units and was constructed at a cost of ₹ 74.7 million (US$900,000). [6] The factory was inaugurated by then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru and rolled out its first coach on 2 October 1955. [7] The furnishing division was inaugurated on 2 October 1962. [7] [2]

Manufacturing

The ICF consists of two main divisions, shell division and furnishing division. [8] The shell division consists of 14 individual units and manufactures the skeleton of the rail coach, where various parts that form the shell are fabricated and integrated to form a single structure that is placed on wheel sets. [8] The furnishing division consists of eight individual units and is responsible for interior furnishing, exterior painting, electrical equipment and other testing. [8] The factory had an installed capacity of 350 units per annum in 1955 with the production increasing to 1458 by 2013–14, 2277 by 2016–17 and reaching the highest at 4166 coaches in 2019–20. [2] [9] [10]

In 2011, the air-conditioned train-sets manufactured by ICF for Kolkata Metro allegedly broke down causing disruption of services as the rakes were sent to Kolkata without conducting dry runs because the ICF did not have third-rail testing facilities. [11] As of early 2020s, the company manufactures over 4000 coaches each year and is the largest rail coach manufacturer in the world. [12] [13] In June 2024, ICF rolled out its 75,000 coach, which was part of the 69th rake of Vande Bharat. [14]

Products

A Vande Bharat Express semi-high speed train-set built by ICF Vande Bharat Express around Mumbai.jpg
A Vande Bharat Express semi-high speed train-set built by ICF

ICF manufactures more than 170 varieties of coaches including IC coaches, LHB coaches, Metro coaches, EMUs, DMUs and MEMUs. The coaches manufactured based on original Swiss design were termed as ICF coaches which were manufactured from 1955 to 2018. [15] The ICF coaches were replaced by newer LHB coaches designed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany. [16] In the 1960s, ICF started developing EMUs for short-haul and local routes. [17] [18]

In 2017, ICF started developing a semi-high speed train-set designed to be fully air-conditioned, equipped with modern facilities and capable of reaching speeds of over 160 km/h (99 mph). [19] In 2018, the first prototype code-named "Train 18" was completed within 18 months after initiation and was built at a cost of ₹970 million (equivalent to ₹1.3 billionorUS$16 million in 2023) with 80% indigenous components. [20] It was later re-named as Vande Bharat Express, the first of which was flagged off by the Prime Minister of India on 15 February 2019. [21] [22]

Exports

While the coach factory primarily manufactures rolling stock for Indian Railways, it also exports railway coaches to other countries. The first export was an order of 47 bogies to Thailand in 1967 and the factory has since exported 875 bogies and coaches to over 13 Afro-Asian countries including Angola, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zambia. [2] [23] [24] [25]

Other facilities

A training school, established in 1955 provides training to the personnel. [3] A Regional Railway Museum is situated in the factory premises which has a collection of nascent models of trains and models endemic to the Indian Railways. ICF maintains quarters of working staff and other associated facilities including hospitals and schools. [3] About 59.1 million units of electricity had been generated through the windmills installed by ICF in Tirunelveli district in 2011 which met 80 per cent of the plant's electrical energy requirements. [26] [27] [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail transport in India</span>

Rail transport in India consists of primarily of passenger and freight shipments along an integrated rail network. Indian Railways (IR), a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India, operates India's national railway system. It is the primary owner and operator of rail operations throughout the country including suburban rail in major metros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Railways</span> Government of India statutory body

Indian Railways is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India that operates India's national railway system. As of 2023, it manages the fourth largest national railway system by size with a track length of 132,310 km (82,210 mi), running track length of 106,493 km (66,172 mi) and route length of 68,584 km (42,616 mi). As of August 2024, 96.59% of the broad-gauge network is electrified. With more than 1.2 million employees, it is the world's ninth-largest employer and India's second largest employer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shatabdi Express</span> Series of Express day train in India

Shatabdi Express are a series of fast passenger trains operated by Indian Railways. Shatabdi Express are day trains and mostly return to their origin station the same day. The trains run at a maximum permissible speed of 110–150 km/h (68–93 mph) with the Rani Kamalapati–New Delhi Shatabdi Express achieving the maximum permissible speed of 150 km/h (93 mph) between Tughlakabad and Bilochpura Agra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Railway zone</span> Railway zone of Indian Railways

Southern Railway (SR) is one of the eighteen zones of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Chennai and operates across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Puducherry. The origin of the Southern Railway can be traced back to the Madras Railway formed in 1845. Southern Railway was created on 14 April 1951 by merging three state railways, namely, the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway Company, and the Mysore State Railway and became the first railway zone created in newly formed India. Southern Railway maintains about 5,081 km (3,157 mi) of railway lines and operates 727 railway stations. It has the distinction of operating the first railway line in India, which opened for traffic from Redhills to Chindadripettai in Madras on 12 September 1836.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian locomotive class WAP-5</span> Indian Railway passenger class high speed electric locomotive

Indian locomotive class WAP-5 is a class of electric locomotives used by Indian Railways. The first ten locomotives were imported from ABB in Switzerland in 1995 and later manufactured by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in India. On 3 July 2014, a WAP-5 set an Indian speed record by hauling a train between Delhi and Agra at a speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). The locomotive has regenerative braking, flexible gear coupling, wheel-mounted disc brakes, and a potential for speed enhancement to 200 km/h (120 mph). Braking systems include 160 kN (36,000 lbf) regenerative brakes, disc brakes, automatic train air brakes and a charged spring parking brake.

Indian Railways coaching stock consists of various travel class passenger coaches, freight wagons apart from specialized and dedicated coaching stock for other uses. Indian Railways operates India's railway system and comes under the purview of the Ministry of Railways of Government of India. As of 2022, it operates over 8000 trains daily with a inventory of 318,196 freight wagons and 84,863 passenger coaches. The rolling stock is manufactured by five units owned by Indian Railways, four public sector units and one private company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garib Rath Express</span> Series of Express train in India

The Garib Rath trains are a series of no-frills trains operated by Indian Railways to provide air-conditioned train travel at a cheaper rate compared to regular trains. Garib Rath Express trains primarily operate on long-distance routes, connecting major cities and important railway stations across different states in India. These trains are designed to cover extensive distances, often traversing several hundred kilometers in a single journey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-speed rail in India</span>

Indian Railways operates India's railway system and comes under the purview of the Ministry of Railways of Government of India. As of 2023, it maintains over 108,706 km (67,547 mi) of tracks and operates over 13,000 trains daily. According to the Ministry of Railways, a route capable of supporting trains operating at more than 160 km/h (100 mph) is considered as a higher speed or semi-high speed rail line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ICF coach</span> Type of coach used by Indian Railways

The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coach is a conventional passenger coach used on the majority of Indian Railways (IR) lines. Between 1955 and 2018, more than 54,000 were produced and some were exported to other countries. The coaches are to be phased out by 2030.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MEMU</span> Electric multiple unit trains in India

In Indian Railways, A MEMU is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train that serves short and medium-distance routes in India, as compared to normal EMU trains that connect urban and suburban areas. The acronym stands for Mainline Electric Multiple Unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Express trains in India</span> List of express trains of India

India has a system of express trains, operated by Indian Railways which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Railways of Government of India. As of 2023, it maintains over 108,706 km (67,547 mi) of tracks, spanning across 68,584 km (42,616 mi) in route length, and operates nearly 3,000 express trains daily. According to the Ministry of Railways, express trains travel faster and have limited stops than ordinary passenger trains. Any passenger train with an average speed higher than 55 km/h (34 mph) is considered super-fast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LHB coach</span> Type of coach used by Indian Railways

Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) coach is a passenger coach of Indian Railways that is developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany and produced by rail coach manufacturing units at Kapurthala, Chennai and Raebareli. They have been used since 2000 on the 1,676 mm broad gauge network of Indian railways. Initially, 24 air-conditioned coaches were imported from Germany for use in the Shatabdi Expresses, following which, the Rail Coach Factory started manufacturing after technology transfer. IR declared that all ICF coaches will be replaced by LHB coaches to provide more safety and comfort. The last ICF Coach was flagged off on 19 January 2018, making way for LHB Coaches to be used for all new coaches to be introduced by Indian Railways in the future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli</span> Rail coach manufacturing unit in Uttar Pradesh

Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli or MCF Raebareli is a rail coach manufacturing unit of the Indian Railways at Lalganj near Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh. The factory is one of the coach production unit of Indian Railways besides the Integral Coach Factory at Perambur, Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala in Punjab, Marathwada Rail Coach Factory in Latur, Maharashtra and Rail Coach Factory at Sonipat, Haryana. The factory was inaugurated on 7 November 2012. MCF Raebareli is one of the most advanced coach manufacturing unit of the world it is equipped with the many state of the art industrial robots and machines, on result making it require less manpower than other coach manufacturing units of Indian Railways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vande Bharat (sleeper trainset)</span> Under development high-speed EMU trainset of India

The Vande Bharat sleeper trainset, formerly known as Train-20 is a semi-high-speed, long-distance electric multiple unit (EMU) train, designed to replace the Rajdhani Express. It is being developed based on the existing short-distance Vande Bharat train, differing in exterior body, sleeping berths, and onboard amenities due to its long-distance service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titagarh Rail Systems</span> Indian rolling stock manufacturer

Titagarh Rail Systems Limited, is an Indian rolling stock manufacturer. Established in 1984 as a rolling stock foundry unit, the company's headquarters are situated in Kolkata, West Bengal. Titagarh is publicly traded on both the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vande Bharat Express</span> Series of Indian semi-high speed EMU train services

Vande Bharat Express is a medium-distance superfast express service operated by Indian Railways. It is a reserved, air-conditioned chair car service connecting cities that are less than 800 km (500 mi) apart or take less than ten hours to travel with existing services. The train was a part of the 'Make in India' initiative by the government and entered commercial service on 15 February 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visakhapatnam–Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express</span> Vande Bharat Express train route in India

The 20833/20834 Visakhapatnam–Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express is India's 8th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secunderabad–Tirupati Vande Bharat Express</span> Vande Bharat Express train route in India

The 20701/20702 Secunderabad - Tirupati Vande Bharat Express is India's 12th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vande Bharat (trainset)</span> Indian semi-high-speed EMU trainsets

The Vande Bharat trainset, formerly known as Train 18, is an Indian electric multiple unit chair car trainset designed and developed by Indian Railways at its Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. The train achieved a maximum speed of 183 km/h (114 mph) during its trial runs but the operational speed of the train is restricted to 160 km/h (99 mph) due to tracks' inability to support such speeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amrit Bharat (trainset)</span> Indian push-pull trainsets

Amrit Bharat is an Indian push-pull train, designed and developed by Indian Railways at its Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. It has non-air-conditioned three-tier sleeper and unreserved coaches.

References

  1. ↑ "U Subbra Rao takes over as General Manager" (PDF). Indian Railways . Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "About us". ICF. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Tracing the roots (PDF) (Report). ICF. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Integral Coach Factory strong at 60". Deccan Chronicle . 15 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  5. ↑ N, Sushma U. (7 March 2018). "54,000 coaches later, an Indian train factory is hitting reset for the high-speed age". Quartz . Retrieved 9 August 2024. Since its inception in 1955, the ICF has been running on technology from Switzerland's Swiss Cars and Elevators Manufacturing and Germany's Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB)
  6. ↑ Parliamentary debates, 1954 (PDF) (Report). Government of India. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Integral Coach Factory: a global success story from Chennai". The Hindu . 10 June 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 "Rolling Stock Department". ICF. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "ICF produces record 1,622 coaches". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "Indian government approves Kolar coach factory". 12 March 2014. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Snag disrupts Metro services develops snag, commuters stranded". The Times of India . 18 September 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  12. ↑ "After becoming world's largest rail factory, Indian Railways ICF to beat its own coach production record". Financial Express. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  13. ↑ "Watch | How Chennai's ICF became a global success". The Hindu . 14 June 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2024. from manufacturing 350 units per year, now it rolls out over 4,000 coaches annually
  14. ↑ "ICF rolls out 75,000th coach since its inception". The Hindu Business Line . 27 June 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024. Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, made history on Thursday by rolling out the 75,000th coach since its inception in 1955. The 75,000th coach was part of the 69th rake of Vande Bharat trainset.
  15. ↑ Ayyappan, V. (4 January 2021). "Leakage Found in ICF Coaches". The Times of India . Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  16. ↑ Debroy, Bibek (9 February 2018). "A 70-Year-Old Vs a 30-Year-Old: LHB Coaches Perform Better than ICF Ones" . Business Standard . Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  17. ↑ Electrical Multiple Units (PDF). Indian Rail Info (Report). 15 October 1999. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Historical Background of Railway Electrification". Indian Railways . Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  19. ↑ "Indian Railways to roll out 'Make in India' 160 kmph self-propelled 'world-class' train sets at half the cost of import!". The Financial Express. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  20. ↑ "Train 18: Country's first engine-less train rolled out; Train 20 next". The Economic Times . 29 October 2018. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  21. ↑ "India's fastest to be called Vande Bharat Express". NDTV . Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  22. ↑ Sivapriyan, E. "Integral Coach Factory to turn new Vande Bharat variants this fiscal". Deccan Herald . Retrieved 27 December 2023. Launched as Train 18 and rechristened as Vande Bharat, the trains that are designed to run at a maximum speed of 180 km per hour are indigenously manufactured at the ICF since 2018
  23. ↑ "65-year-old ICF of Indian Railway exported 650 rail coaches in last few years to 14 countries". The New Indian Express . Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  24. ↑ "Chugging through TN's Integral Coach Factory, India's oldest train-making facility". The News Minute. 18 May 2018. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  25. ↑ "Janakpur-Jayanagar rail service to resume operations by March". Kathmandu Post. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  26. ↑ "Coach factory to use Rs 250 cr to upgrade bogies". Business Standard. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  27. ↑ "Surplus from ICF windmills to power TNEB grid soon". The Times of India . 23 February 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  28. ↑ "Integral Coach Factory installs seven windmills". The Hindu . Chennai, India. 10 April 2009. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.

Further reading

13°05′54″N80°12′30″E / 13.09832°N 80.20844°E / 13.09832; 80.20844

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.