DEMU Train Handed Over To The Island Nation
S. Vishnu Sharma, INN/Chenna@infodeaofficial
ICF gets a customer from abroad
The fame of Integral Coach Factory (ICF), the prestigious institute that makes coaches for Indian Railways has crossed the boundaries of this nation and spread far and wide. That is because ICF makes coaches and coach component for for railway networks of other countries also.
This time it is for island nation Sri Lanka. The first rake of 13 car Diesel Electrical Multiple Unit (DEMU) for Sri Lanka Railways was handed over to Mukesh Rathore, director (technical) and Manobendra Ghoshal, CGM at RITES Ltd at a function held at furnishing division of ICF on 12 November.
ICF General Manager S Mani said these coaches are specially made for export to Sri Lanka Railways and have advanced technical and passenger comfort features.
He added that ICF is expecting another order from the island nation for export of 160 coaches and the modalities are being worked out along with RITES Ltd.
He further said that advanced level of negotiations are going on between Indian Railways and Bangladesh Railways for export of coaches from ICF. The rake will be shipped to Sri Lanka from Chennai Port after proper packing.
Each DEMU rake consist of 13 cars in a combination of two driving power cars with economy class seating (DPC), two driving trailer cars with economy class seating (DTC), two air-conditioned chair cars with rotatable seats, two business class chair cars (equivalent to first class in suburban trains) and five economy class coaches (equivalent to second class seating cars in suburban trains).
Since Sri Lanka have large portions of rail lines along coastal areas, rail coaches are prone to corrosion. To prevent this, the car body along with all interior fittings have been made of austenitic stainless steel.
Special paint has been used on the bogies and under-frame to prevent corrosion. The body of these coaches are painted with special high glass anti-graffiti paint that will be appealing and long lasting. Interiors have been decked with high grade FRP with no visible screws for durability and are aesthetically appealing.
There are many first time features in these DEMU coaches to make it contemporary and at par with Metro Trains, such as plush interiors, GPS based PIS/PAS in all coaches, halogen free rubber flooring and others
