Hundreds of ICF-made coaches running in special trains to be withdrawn

Hundreds of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) designed coaches running in special trains operated across the railway network will be withdrawn and condemned.

According to railway sources, a majority of these coaches were earlier used for operating 62 Garib Rath Express trains on various routes.

LHB rakes

The production of ICF-designed coaches for Garib Rath trains was stopped last year and replaced with Linke Hoffman Busch (LHB) air-conditioned economy rakes. The old coaches were used to run special trains.

However, several complaints were received from senior officials in different Zonal Railways about multiple maintenance issues, including electrical and mechanical problems, and non-availability of spare parts.

With increasing number of complaints from the travelling public and railway officials in the recent months, the Railway Board has directed that erstwhile ICF-designed Garib Rath Express coaches be withdrawn from passenger service with immediate effect, the sources said.

Read more:Old coaches turn death traps

“Zonal Railways have reported a number of issues in maintenance of electrical and mechanical sub-assemblies of ICF Garib Rath coaches, which include overdue mid-life rehabilitation and difficulty in procurement of spares. It has been decided to discontinue these coaches from passenger service,” a railway official said.

About 900 coaches were expected to be withdrawn. Though a policy decision was taken to replace all ICF-designed coaches, most of which are at least 20-years old, hundreds of trains were being operated with the old rakes.

In Southern Railway alone, 154 rakes comprising the ICF-designed coaches were still in passenger service on several routes and officials had planned to replace them with LHB rakes by 2028, the sources said.