Chennai: Integral Coach Factory (ICF) will make Vande Bharat-type freight train sets that will not require locomotives for speed parcel services.
The 16-coach rakes will have coaches that can be used to move refrigerated perishable items like fish and vegetables and also for carrying e-commerce parcels. They are called Gati Shakti trains.
Made on the Vande Bharat platform, the train sets will be capable of running at 160kmph with greater power to haul the load.
The rakes will be designed to accommodate standard sized freight containers like the ones used in aircraft with three to six tonne capacity.
The coaches will have two sliding doors on each side and will have roller bed floors for easy loading and unloading of containers.
“The project is in the design stage. The factory has prepared a rough schedule for manufacture and aims to dispatch the first rake by December this year,” said an official.
Manufacture of shells for the coach will start in July and first rake will be completed in November and testing and commissioning will be done in December, said a presentation prepared by ICF on the new rakes.
An ICF official said that railways wants to step up manufacture of new freight train sets so that the speed parcel services could be operated to make the most of industry demand in the coming years.
According to India Brand Equity Foundation, the e-commerce market is expected to reach US $ 111billion by 2024 and US $ 200 billion by 2026.
ICF is also planning to make 75 Vande Bharat trains with improved design for passenger movement by August 2023. The factory, which manufactured 3,101 coaches of different variants, has been given a target of 4, 275 coaches for 2022-23.
The 16-coach rakes will have coaches that can be used to move refrigerated perishable items like fish and vegetables and also for carrying e-commerce parcels. They are called Gati Shakti trains.
Made on the Vande Bharat platform, the train sets will be capable of running at 160kmph with greater power to haul the load.
The rakes will be designed to accommodate standard sized freight containers like the ones used in aircraft with three to six tonne capacity.
The coaches will have two sliding doors on each side and will have roller bed floors for easy loading and unloading of containers.
“The project is in the design stage. The factory has prepared a rough schedule for manufacture and aims to dispatch the first rake by December this year,” said an official.
Manufacture of shells for the coach will start in July and first rake will be completed in November and testing and commissioning will be done in December, said a presentation prepared by ICF on the new rakes.
An ICF official said that railways wants to step up manufacture of new freight train sets so that the speed parcel services could be operated to make the most of industry demand in the coming years.
According to India Brand Equity Foundation, the e-commerce market is expected to reach US $ 111billion by 2024 and US $ 200 billion by 2026.
ICF is also planning to make 75 Vande Bharat trains with improved design for passenger movement by August 2023. The factory, which manufactured 3,101 coaches of different variants, has been given a target of 4, 275 coaches for 2022-23.
