ICF to manufacture 150 MST units for MRVC

Chennai, Jun 15 (UNI) The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) will manufacture 150 Multiple Suburban Train (MST) units for Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore, Minister of State for Railways R Velu said today.

Talking to mediapersons after inspecting one such ready unit at the ICF here, Mr Velu said each unit consisted of 12 coaches with modern and cushioned seating facilities.

Stating that these units were being designed and manufactured based on the feedback given by the MRVC passengers, he said everyday about 60 lakh commuters were travelling in the corporation run suburban trains.

The new units meant for MRVC would ease the existing congestion in the corporation's suburban train sector, he informed.

He said the ICF was also going to manufacture a specially designed 'Life Line Train' for the Mumbai-based NGO Impact India Foundation to provide health care to unserved rural people living in and around Mumbai at a cost of Rs six crore.

The five-coach train consisted of power generator car, two coaches with operation theatres, one sterlised medicine and medical equipment storage coach and a doctors conference coach, he added.

Replying to a question, Mr Velu said a decision was taken to replace the existing general second class compartments with modified and cushion seating coaches all over the Indian Railways in a phased manner. Efforts were on to attach two more unreserved compartments in all the crowded and important trains.

He said the Railway Ministry had sought a date convenient to President A P J Abdul Kalam for inaugurating the newly-converted Madurai-Rameswaram broadgauge railway route.

As the work on the Tiruvanmiyur-Velacherry MRTS train was over, the Railway Safety Commissioner is expected to inspect it in a couple of days. After receiving the Commissioner's nod, train services between Tiruvanmiyur and Velacherry would commence before end of this month, he added.

The Minister also inaugurated the Lake View park in the ICF residential area for the benefit of ICF employees.

UNI