ICF halts Train 18, 19, 20 productions post probe

The ground reality at ICF seems to be a far cry from the statement made by the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in Parliament that ICF would produce 640 coaches of Train 18 in the next three years.

Sources in ICF told DT Next that the factory has also suspended production of Train 19 and Train 20, following vigilance probe into the Train 18 production.

“Train 19 is only the sleeper version of Train 18. When Train 18 has come to a halt, where does the question of manufacturing the next variant arise? Train 19 has not moved beyond early stages of drawing. Train 20 remains has remained only on paper since last year. Everything has been stopped. Now, we are only producing LHB coaches,” an ICF source said under conditions of anonymity.  Ruling out the possibility of reviving Train 18 production, a former ICF officer who did not wish to be named reasoned that the electrical system was crucial for the sophisticated train production. “Only big players like Bombardier, Siemens, Alstom and Hitachi can supply them. But they will demand 1.5 times the existing price. Even if the price was agreed upon and orders placed, vendors might need at least a couple of years to come up with design and send train-specific electrical systems. The existing supplier might be averse to supply after getting mired in the controversy. So, there is no question of reviving production in a few years,” the officer added.

Worse, vigilance probe and maligning of officials and vendors involved in Train 18 production has discouraged existing officials from taking bold decisions, which was imperative in producing one such train. “After seeing senior colleagues suffer vigilance probe, who among the existing officers will stick their neck out? We don’t know if we would revive production. We have not been offered clarity from Delhi. As of now, everything has come to a halt. Now, it is just the old ICF producing coaches for old trains,” a senior ICF officer admitted.