Train 18 for exports after domestic demand is met:Rly official

The demand for coaches of India's state-of-the-art 'Train 18' from some Southeast Asian and South American countries will be considered after meeting the domestic need, a Railway Board member said Tuesday.

Rolling out the 60,000th coach manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory here, Railway Board member (Rolling Stock) Rajesh Agrawal said ICF would roll out 40 Train 18 trainsets in the immediate future.

"Some of the Southeast Asian and South American nations have evinced interest in Train 18 coaches. However, it will be considered after fulfilling the needs of Indian Railways," Agrawal said in a statement.

India's first self-propelled (engine-less) Train 18, which was rolled out last year, presently runs between New Delhi and Varanasi as Vande Bharat Express.

"It is a matter of pride that ICF has rolled out 3,262 coaches last year (2018-19) making ICF the largest coach manufacturer in the world. In the next year itself, ICF will break its own record by producing more than 4,000 coaches," Agrawal said.

The official also said ICF would take up design, development and production of Train 19, a sleeper version of Train 18, in the current year.

According to the release, about Rs 2,500 crore infrastructure improvement projects are being planned for coach production units of the Indian Railways.