In a city where railway project after project is either floundering or getting delayed by years, there is finally some good news for Mumbaikars — the latest production schedule of the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai for the 70 Bombardier rakes for Mumbai will see serial production from March.
In a city where railway project after project is either floundering or getting delayed by years, there is finally some good news for Mumbaikars — the latest production schedule of the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai for the 70 Bombardier rakes for Mumbai will see serial production from March.
When are the new rakes expected to be built?
The first of the rakes will be built in March, another two in April, three in May, and then possibly the full quota of four rakes per month.
What's the plan?
The plan is to turn out around 25 rakes by December this year and finish the entire quota of 70 rakes by December 2016, say officials.
Is it achievable?
"The December 2016 deadline for all 70 rakes (plus two already in the city for trials) is a very tight one. It is possible that the rake production might spill over to the first few months of 2017," said a senior railway official.
Why have the Bombardier rakes been delayed?
The Bombardier rake production got delayed initially because of the time being taken by railway officials from city to test the Bombardier rakes, and later, because for a brief period attention was on the city's first AC local. In fact, the shell of six coaches of the AC local have already been built — sans the painting and fittings — before ICF officials decided to stop work and concentrate on completing the package of 72 Bombardier rakes under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project.
Why is railways taking so long to test the rakes?
The delay in testing of the Bombardier rakes has been, agreed most officials, a hallmark of inefficiency and lack of communication between the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation, Western and Central Railways. "It has been a mess. It is unheard even by Indian Railway standards that its takes more than 15 months to test a prototype. These railway officials have done a disservice to the hapless Mumbai commuter," said an official.
Officialspeak
"Now, we believe the Bombardier rake being tested currently should be commissioned in a month and ICF will get the feedback in a few days after that. The production of the AC local will begin once ICF gets the electrical systems from BHEL by March. So now, it can turn its attention towards the pending Bombardier rakes," said the official.
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