THE TRAIN MAKERS

Inside the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, where India's most modern Vande Bharat Express trains are manufactured 

- LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN

Clang! The sound of metal striking metal welcomes one to the Integral Coach Factory in north Chennai’s Perambur. Large pieces of steel and metal plates are spread on the factory floor. As you walk down a green epoxy pathway, taking in the huge cranes on either side, men and women in dark blue uniforms walk past you with rods and wires in their hands. Some of their colleagues are carrying steel sheets, others are operating the cranes, which are moving heavy frames to an assembly point.

Sparks fly as women wearing protective helmets wield welding torches. Adjacent to the assembly unit, at the furnishing unit, men are lying under the chassis, tightening bolts, laying wires, fixing rubber beading on doors and windows. A team of young men are installing the propulsion system’s controls in loco pilot’s cabin.

The ICF, which makes coaches for Vande Bharat Express trains, has a full schedule this fiscal. It is aiming to roll out 600 Vande Bharat coaches before March 31, 2024, and manufactures 16 to 18 train sets (units of eight or 16 coaches) a month. “ICF is best suited for the manufacture of VB coaches as we have expertise in a variety of coaches, especially air-conditioned coaches,” ICF general manager B.G. Mallya told THE WEEK. “We also have expertise in self-propellant coaches.”