Chennai :Ā Minister of State for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and inspected the Vande Bharat express coaches under production and flagged off the 12,000 LHB AC-II Tier coach. Speaking to reporters after inspecting various facilities, he said the first two prototype rakes are planned to be turned out by August this year.
The Indian Railways is committed to roll out 75 Vande Bharat rakes by August next year, he added. Later, he flagged off the 12,000th LHB AC-II Tier Coach at the Furnishing factory, in
the presence of ICF General Manager A.K. Agarwal, General Manager, ICF, Southern Railway General Manager B.G. Mallya and other officials.The Minister said this is a great milestone in the history of Indian Railways and a bench mark in modernisation of passenger train services.
ICF is the first production unit of Indian Railways to achieve such a benchmark in the production of LHB coaches. Vande Bharat express is a proud project for Indian Railways and I congratulate
Team ICF for the design and development of these coaches which are world class”, he said. The Minister said all regions of India will be connected through Vande Bharat Express trains as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which is a dream coming true for all of us.
He said the Prime Minister’s vision is to transform Indian Railways to give better passenger experience, higher safety, with more passenger capacity. Stating that all stations in Indian Railways are being re-developed, the Minister said 50 stations have already been undergoing the process.
In Tamil Nadu, five stations including Chennai Egmore, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Rameswaram and Katpadi have been shortlisted under the project, he added. He said Rs.3,685 crores have been allotted for railway projects in Tamilnadu in the current budget and under the PM Gati Shakti project, many more developments
in the anvil for railways.
Earlier, the Minister visited Dr MGR Chennai Central and inspected the One Station One Product Kanchipuram Silk Saree Stall. He interacted with members of trade unions before boarding a special train to conduct window trailing inspection from Chennai to Bengaluru.