ICF to ready prototype of Vande Bharat freight train

Chennai: Even as the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is working to achieve the target of rolling out 27 Vande Bharat Express trains by March 2023, it is also planning to roll out a prototype of freight carrier on Vande Bharat platform.

"While Vande Bharat train is a passenger carrier, the ICF is planning a freight train on the same platform called Gati Shakti Freight Train," said sources. Simply put, the freight express will be flat bed rakes on which containers will be loaded. It is learnt, the ICF is planning to make a cabin with one or two flat wagons to test the proposed freight train's pulling power. The freight train is targeted at the electronic commerce segment for whom faster delivery of goods is important. Be that as it may, the ICF is planning to close this fiscal year by rolling out a total of 27 Vande Bharat Express trains - chair car version- and another 75 such trains by next Aug 15 - India's Independence Day.

It is learnt another 100 Vande Bharat Express trains - sleeper version - will be made at ICF and at the Marthwada Rail Coach Factory at Latur in Maharashtra in a public-private-participation (PPP) mode.

On Tuesday, the staff at the ICF celebrated the successful rolling out of the third Vande Bharat train by distributing sweets.