ICF coach

Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coach
Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coach
	Yellow ("Utkrisht" livery) and blue ("Blue" livery) ICF coaches.
Designer	Swiss Car & Elevator Manufacturing Co
Built at	Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, Chennai; Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala; Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Bangalore;
Constructed	1955–2018
Scrapped	c. 2000s–2009 (PNR)
Number built	More than 54,000, 601 for export
Number scrapped	About 50,000 until 2030 (IR); 60 (PNR);
Successor	LHB coach (IR); 7A-2000 coaches (PNR);
Operators	Indian Railways (phasing out); Philippine National Railways (former operator); Railways in Taiwan, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Angola and Sri Lanka;
Specifications
Car body construction	Stainless steel and corten steel
Car length	22,297 mm (73 ft 1.8 in) over buffers
Width	3,245 mm (10 ft 7.8 in)
Height	4,025 mm (13 ft 2.5 in)
Floor height	1,313 mm (4 ft 3.7 in)
Wheelbase	14,783 mm (48 ft 6.0 in)
Maximum speed	130 km/h (81 mph)
Bogies	ICF Bogies
Minimum turning radius	152.4 m (500 ft)
Coupling system	Buffers and chain coupler, AAR H Type Tightlock CBC coupling
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)

The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coach is a conventional passenger coach used on the majority of Indian Railways (IR) lines.^[1] Between 1955 and 2018, more than 54,000 were produced and some were exported to other countries.^[2] The coaches are to be phased out by 2030.^[3]

History

The design of the coach was developed by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, Chennai, India in collaboration with the Swiss Car & Elevator Manufacturing Co, Schlieren, Switzerland. The bogies were also known as Schlieren bogies after the location of the Swiss company.^[4]

An Indian delegation made initial contacts with the Swiss manufacturer at a railway congress in Lucerne in the summer of 1947, the contract for cooperation between the company and the Government of India was signed in Delhi in May 1949, and work on the Perambur factory began a year later. The plant was inauguration by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955.^[5]^[6] By 2018, it had manufactured more than 54,000 coaches,^[2] of which 601 were exported to countries such as Taiwan, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Angola and Sri Lanka.^[7] The last ICF coach was flagged off on 19 January 2018 by senior technician P. Bhaskar in the presence of Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani.^[8]

Project Utkrisht

In April 2018, the Indian Railways launched a refurbishment programme called Utkrisht ('excellence') to refurbish and modernise ICF coaches in 640 rakes.^[9]

With a total cost of ₹4 billion (equivalent to ₹11 billion or US$130 million in 2023), the refurbishment included a new beige and maroon livery, LED fixtures, upgraded bio-toilets with odour control, assistive braille signage, and improved trash disposal.^[10]

Retirement and legacy

Indian Railways plans to retire all ICF coaches by 2030, replacing them with LHB and Vande Bharat trainsets.^[3]

Central Railways is converting ICF coaches having a residual life of 5 years into accident relief and new modified goods-high speed (NMGH) automobile carrier rakes. As of September 2023, 57 ICF coaches have been converted into NMGH rakes and 4 ICF coaches have been converted into accident relief trains.^[11]

The Philippine National Railways (PNR) had already withdrawn the last of its ICF coaches from service in 2009.^[1] 60 coaches were delivered to PNR between 1975 and 1979.^[7]

Liveries

Standard

Since their introduction in 1955 with a brick red livery, the ICF coaches were repainted blue in the 1990s, and in beige and red since 2018.^[12]

Brick Red Livery (1955–1990s)

Blue Livery (1990spresent)

Utkrisht Livery (2018–present)

Special

All of India's premier trainsets – the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto – and Garib Rath were introduced with ICF rakes. Garib Rath is the only trainset that continues to use ICF coaches to date, while the rest have been moved to LHB coaches.

Rajdhani Livery (1969–2016)

Shatabdi Livery (1988–2019)

Garib Rath Livery (2006–present)

Duronto Livery (2009–2020)

Image gallery

A red ICF coach used on an unnamed train
A blue ICF coach used on the Gorakdham Express
A buffers and chain coupler on an ICF coach used on Uttaranchal Sampark Kranti Express
ICF coaches of Chennai Shatabdi