Why all of a sudden the manufacture of Vande Bharat trains in Chennai has slowed down?
Posted on: 23/Nov/2022 9:25:03 AM
The ICF or Integral Coach Factory at Perambur has been facing production delays due to the disruption in an important component from Ukraine for Vande Bharat trains. This has resulted in the slow production now. It is now said that the war between Russia and Ukraine has impacted the production of these prestigious trains.
The bogies or the undercarriage with wheels at the ends used to be shipped directly from Ukraine before the war broke out between Ukraine and Russia. The war began in February and due to that the bogies had to be carried to Poland by road and then transported to Chennai by sea
According to an official from ICF Chennai, currently there is no bulk supply of bogies unlike the past. He spoke about how the bogies from Poland took a long time to reach Chennai due to the circuitous route and it also led to increased cost of logistics.The war has also reduced the number of bogies supplied now.
Another officer mentioned that the Railways department took effort to find an alternative supplier of bogies but that was unsuccessful as China wass the only supplier of bogies. It is learnt that there was some apprehension in getting the bogies from China. Truth is that no other vendor would supply bogies at the cost offered by Ukraine. Hence, it was not easy to identify an alternate supplier of bogies. Till now, no information is available about the extent of delay that this has caused. Information is that it is the Railway Board that finalises the vendors.
