CHENNAI: The swanky trains plying in Chennai Metro, the city’s latest mass transit system, might carry the ‘Made in Chennai’ mark in near future.
It has been learnt that discussions are underway between Integral Coach Factory (ICF) – a premier production unit of Indian Railways located in Perambur, and Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) for manufacturing coaches for the latter.
Presently, the fully air-conditioned coaches for Chennai Metro are being supplied by French manufacturer Alstom, which has set up a factory at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh. But, of late, the ICF has set out to garner a market share in this metro segment, which its officials consider to be niche. While ICF primarily manufactures LHB coaches for Indian Railways, its general manager Sudhanshu Mani exclusively told Express, “We want to enter the metro segment starting with Chennai Metro, even though it might remain a small portion of our overall business.”
When specifically asked about its plans, the general manager said, “We have given a proposal to Ministry of Urban Development, who have encouraged us to talk to Chennai Metro. We are now in serious discussions with them.” The metro coaches have been imported all this while, he said.
Perhaps, illustrating its expertise in this field, ICF on Tuesday rolled out eight coaches for Kolkata Metro, its only client until now. The coaches, which is manufactured at a cost of `8 crore each, has advanced safety features, including an emergency system for opening the doors from outside.
“These coaches cost as much as 50 per cent less than those manufactured by foreign companies. However, they are at par with world standards,” a official said. The Railway board chairman also flagged off the luxurious Vistadome tourist coaches. These coaches, manufactured by ICF, will be given to IRCTC for operating special trains. “Two such coaches, costing about `4.5 crore will ply between Vishakapattinam and Arakku Valley in AP, while another tourist coach will soon be dispatched to Jammu and Kashmir,” the official said.