Top companies have raised concerns about the specifications for procurement of a new electrical propulsion sys... Read More

CHENNAI: Union railway minister Piyush Goyal on November 27 informed Parliament that Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) will manufacture 160 coaches of Train-18 in 2019-20. However, top railway officials say that it is unlikely that even a single coach of Train-18 will roll out of ICF this year — or in the near future — as top companies have raised concerns about specifications for procurement of a new electrical propulsion system.

The specifications set by Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) and Indian Railways research wing were released in November. “RDSO has exceeded its brief and included items to which likely bidders have objected to in writing,” said Shubhranshu, former chief mechanical engineer (CME) of ICF in a letter to V K Yadav, chairman of Railway Board (CRB) on November 13.

Shubhranshu is now posted at Rail Wheel Plant and was earlier part of the core team which made two Train-18 rakes which now run as Vande Bharat Express on the Delhi-Varanasi and Delhi-Katra route. His letter is a formal complaint demanding a vigilance inquiry into what he calls the sabotage of Train-18 project at ICF. Shubhranshu’s letter said the delay in production at ICF has been cited as reason for floating the proposal of import of 60 train sets (960 coaches) at a cost of ₹25,000 crore. Despite repeated attempts, ICF general manager Rahul Jain could not be reached for comments.

Railway sources told TOI that at least three multinational companies have complained against the specifications, which indicate that the supplier should provide bogies, automatic doors and a brake system along with the propulsion system. RDSO revised the specifications after board officials found fault with the propulsion system in the first two rakes, railway sources said. A vigilance probe is also looking into the procurement of the propulsion system for the first two rakes from a Hyderabad-based company. “The revised specifications will make the competition narrower and the playing field more uneven,” the letter said. This means ICF would not be able to deliver the third Train-18 before March 2023, even as the nation waits, the letter added.

In addition, production of air-conditioned EMUs for Mumbai suburban and MEMUs for branch lines have also been stalled indefinitely, the letter said. “Now ICF is manufacturing only LHB coaches,” an official said. “We don’t know when ICF will be able to process these tenders due to the issues,” a railway board official said.

