To import complete train sets by floating global tenders and the stiff resistance that followed from senior railway officials and political parties, the Ministry of Railways has accorded sanction to the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) here to roll out 45 rakes (720 coaches) of the Vande Bharat Express. The Railway Board cleared the decks for the ICF to proceed with the procurement process immediately with the specifications issued by the research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO). This is a huge success for the ICF that manufactured Train18, India’s first Semi-high speed train, in a record 18-month time in 2018. The indigenously built self-propelled train, launched as Vande Bharat Express between New Delhi and Varanasi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February, has been acknowledged as one of the most successful products of the Make in India campaign.
