Team News Riveting
New Delhi, March 16
The Indian Railways plan for maximum utilisation of aluminium body coaches in the Vande Bharat train, also known as Train 18.
“The use of Aluminium Body coaches in new generation energy efficient Vande Bharat train sets will also be considered to the extent possible,” Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. Railways plan to procure 400 new generation Vande Bharat Train sets with better energy efficiency and passenger riding experience.
The Vande Bharat Express is an Indian semi-high-speed, intercity, EMU train that is operated by the Indian Railways only on two prominent routes as of March 2022, one from New Delhi (NDLS) to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) and the other from New Delhi (NDLS) to Varanasi (BSB).
It was designed and manufactured by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at Perambur, Chennai under the Indian government’s Make in India initiative, over a span of 18 months. The unit cost of the first rake was estimated at Rs 100 crore, although it is expected to go down with subsequent production. At the original price, it is estimated to be 40 per cent cheaper than a similar train imported from Europe
The Minister informed about the measures with respect to induction of aluminium body coaches. Modern Coach Factory (MCF) / Rae Bareli has signed a ToT (Transfer of Technology) contract with M/s Dawonsys, South Korea for Design, Development, Manufacturing and Testing of Aluminium Body passenger coaches, Vaishnaw said.
Railways is planning to explore the use of aluminium bodied coaches as they have lower haulage cost and better fuel efficiency compared to steel counterparts. The corrosion resistant aluminium will also extend the lifespan of the coaches to nearly 40 years. Additionally, the aluminium coaches can be manufactured in less time, a feature that will help in increasing production.
The minister said rolling stock to be procured for Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) will be having aluminium body coaches.
