INDUSTRIAL VISIT REPORT

INTEGRAL COACH
FACTORY -CHENNAI

YERRA PRADEEP
ME14B074
ABOUT INTEGRAL COACH FACTORY:

Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is the only manufacturer of rail

coaches located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was
established in 1952, is owned and operated by the Indian
Railways and started production on 2 October 1955. The coach
factory primarily manufactures cars for Indian Railways but also
exports railway coaches to other countries.

The Integral Coach Factory consists of two main divisions - shell

division and furnishing division. The shell division manufactures
the skeleton of the rail coach, while the furnishing division is
concerned with the coach interiors and amenities. An ancillary
unit to the Integral Coach Factory is being built in Haldia, West
Bengal for furnishing diesel multiple units.[1] ICF manufactures
more than 170 varieties of coach including first and second
class coaches, pantry and kitchen cars, luggage and brake
vans, self-propelled coaches, electric (EMU), diesel (DMU)
and mainline electric multiple units (MEMU), metro coaches and
diesel electric tower cars, accident relief medical vans (ARMV),
inspection cars (RA), fuel test cars, track recording cars and
luxury coaches. The plant employs about 13,000 people and
manufactures about 1500 coaches per year. ICF churned out
1,503 coaches in 2010 and in August 2011, ICF was sanctioned
a project for manufacturing stainless steel shells and high
speed bogies and an increase in capacity from 1,500 to 1,700
coaches. In 2013-14, it built 25 LHB Coaches, 248 air-
conditioned and 1185 non-ac coaches. It plans to increase its
manufacturing capacity of LHB coaches. It has set a target to
manufacture 300 LHB coaches in 2014-15 and reach a capacity
of 1000 LHB coaches by 2016-17. A total of 50,000 coaches had
been produced till 18 Aug 2015 by ICF since its inception.

A Regional Railway Museum is situated in the factory premises.

It has a collection of nascent models of trains and models
endemic to the Indian Railways. About 59.1 million units of
electricity had been generated through the windmills installed
by ICF in Tirunelveli district in 2011 which met 80 percent of the
plant's electrical energy requirements.
The needs of the Indian Railways for various types of coaches,
which may simple or advanced ones are being met by the
integral coach factory. Some of the important ones are listed
below:

1. SELF PROPELLED COACHES

Electric Multiple Units for suburban services in Metropolitan
cities;
Diesel Rail Cars;
Metro Coaches for Kolkata Metro Railways;
Diesel Electric Multiple Units & Diesel Hydraulic Multiple Units
for non- electrified routes and Mainline Electric Multiple Units
for long distance inter-city commuter ship.
Accident Relief Trains / Medical Vans
OHE Inspection Cars
2. AIR-CONDITIONED & NON-AIRCONDITIONED
PASSENGER COACHES
Air-conditioned Sleeper Coaches of first & second class;
Air-conditioned Chair Cars of first and second class;
Double Decker Coaches with seating capacity for 148
passengers as against the conventional 90 passengers.

3. SPECIAL COACHES
Air-conditioned & Non-air-conditioned Pantry Cars
High Capacity Power Cars for Shatabdi & Rajdhani Express
Trains
Air-conditioned Military Ward and Saloon Cars for Indian Army.
Air-conditioned Saloon Cars, Dining Cars, Bar & Restaurant
Cars, luxury suites for luxury tourist trains like Palace on
Wheels (WR), Deccan Odyssey (CR), The Golden Chariot (SWR),
Royal Rajasthan on Wheels (NWR) and Maharajas Express of
IRCTC
Lifeline Express for operation of hospital on wheels
Jet Deflector Crane Cars, Inter Communication Coaches for
DRDO

EXPORT
ICFs achievement on the export front has been enviable since
its inception. Against stiff international competition from more
advanced countries like Japan, etc., ICF secured several export
orders, most of which are repeat orders. So far, 359 bogies, 11
stainless steel coach shells and 481 coaches including air-
conditioned coaches have been exported to 13 Afro-Asian
countries. ICF has bagged a number of awards for Export
Excellence also.
DESIGN & DEVLOPMENT EFFORTS
Complementing the existing design capacities and facilities, a
fully computerised Design & Development Cell has been set up
with sophisticated state-of-the-art computer designing facilities
and testing equipment both for coach components and raw
materials. D&D Centre uses 3-D modelling on SolidWorks
platform for generating 3-D drawings and IDEAS software for
Finite Element Analysis.Strain gauge testing and squeeze test
are done on prototypes before commencement of series
production.
PRODUCTION WITH INNOVATION
ICF has carved a niche in the Indian Railway system by
constantly improving the quality of travel through its passenger
coach design which has undergone a sea- change from the
days of bye-gone era of mere transport of passengers. There
has been a steady growth both in the quality and quantity of its
production. Over the years ICF has endeavoured to meet
passengers expectations through innovations
Cushioned seats in General Second Class and SLR
coaches
Provision of Controlled Discharge Toilet Systems
Anti-injury features in the passenger areas of A/C 2-tier
and Sleeper coaches
 Enhanced carrying capacity in A/C 2-tier, First A/C and
Garib Rath Chair Car
Provision of forced ventilation, PIS/PAS in AC/DC EMUs for
WR and CR
UIC vestibules in mainline coaches
Disabled friendly features in SLRD/SRD coaches
Modular toilets in passenger coaches
Stainless steel panelling, handholds in EMUs
Provision of laptop and cell phone charging points in
passenger coaches
Use of stainless steel in Pantry Cars including interiors
and the equipment
Manufacturing:
The Integral Coach Factory consists of two main divisions - shell
division and furnishing division. The shell division manufactures
the skeleton of the rail coach, while the furnishing division is
concerned with the coach interiors and amenities.
SHELL DIVISION:
The coach manufacturing starts first in the Shell Division, where
the body shell and bogie assemblies are done. The body shell
assembly is of all welded integrated design, and it consists of
Underframe, Sidewall, roof and end-wall assemblies. A Shell is
made of a set of 2 Sidewalls, 2 end-walls, 1 Roof and 1
Underframe fitted on two Bogies.
Activities of Shell Division
a) Sheet metal shop produces all sheet metal items required
for the manufacture of Underframe, Sidewall, End wall and
Roof.
b) Main Assembly shop assembles the Underframe, Sidewall,
End wall and Roof to form a tube like SHELL.
c) Bogie Frame manufacturing shop manufactures Bogie
Frames by Laser Cutting, Press Brakes and Submerged Arc
Welding machines. The components are then assembled in
jigs and robotically or manually welded to get bogie
frames.
 d) Bogie frames, Bolsters, springs and wheels are assembled
together and Bogies are tested in Bogie Testing machine
before they are sent for wheeling.
e) Final Assembly for fitment of Doors, Partition Frames and
Wheeling of Bogies onto the Shells.
The Shells fitted on the Bogies are despatched to
Furnishing Division for painting and furnishing work.

A VIEW OF THE ICF

FURNISHING DIVISION:
Aesthetic look, comfort and safety are very much essential for
pleasant journey. Furnishing Division takes care of the above by
furnishing the interior of the coaches.

Each coach undergoes ten different stages. They are

1) Preparatory 6) Panelling- II
2) Flooring 7) Moulding
3) Wiring 8) Fitting
4) PVC plasting 9) Seats and Back Rests
5) Panelling I 10) Pitline
The Various processes undergoing in these stages in various
shops are:
Grit Blasting, Painting in Automatic Paint Booths, Drying in
Ovens, Lettering
Flooring, Wiring, Panelling on Side Walls, Window fixing,
Partition Panelling, Plumbing, Floor Moulding, Lights & Fans
fixing, Seats, Berths and Racks fixing, Air-conditioning
 where required, Brake fitment and Buffer height
adjustment
The Furnishing Division also does assembly of Self
Propelled Coaches where Engine/Electrics for DEMUs and
Transformers/Motors for EMUs are fitted, commissioned
and tested before despatch.
Technological Upgradations in Furnishing:
Use of UIC Rubber Vestibules, Roof Mounted A/C Package
Units in coaches
Fitment of Controlled Discharge Toilet System
Use of polycarbonate seats in MRVC EMUs
Use of FRP in Aerodynamic Nosecones of DEMUs
Stainless steel panelling, handholds and grab rails in MRVC
EMUs
Compreg Plywood, NFTC, PVC sheets, Recron/PU cushion,
feather touch Vinyl cloth, stainless steel lavatory inlays are
used to achieve good interior design, best passenger
amenities and long life of the coach under tough running
conditions.

SPRING MANUFACTURING
ICF manufactures its own indigenous springs using hot winding
process. Thicker wire or bar stock can be coiled into springs if
the metal is heated to make it flexible. Standard industrial
coiling machines can handle steel bar up to 75 mm in diameter.
The steel is coiled around a mandrel while red hot. Then it is
immediately removed from the coiling machine and plunged
into oil to cool it quickly and harden it. At this stage, the steel is
too brittle to function as a spring, and it must subsequently be
tempered. Grinding, shot peening, setting and coating are
some finishing processes that are done to after the hardening.
These are then sent to the shell division for assembly.
Conclusion:
The ICF is one of the only two coach manufacturing units in
India. It produces coaches indigenously starting right from raw
sheet metal to completely furnished coaches in various shops.
We observed numerous manufacturing processes like punching,
blanking, forming, forging, rolling, turning and CNC machining.
Though India lags behind technologically, ICF imports many of
its equipment from all over the world, making it efficient. It is
very surprising that even with all the imported automation
equipment, it still employs thousands of labourers, which I feel
decreases the efficiency of the factory. It was very interesting
to witness how the coaches were moved from one shop to the
other on movable train tracks. Also the museum that we visited
at the end of the industrial visit was an eye opener, where we
came to know some very famous personalities who had visited
the ICF. The visit taught me that the Indians are also as capable
as the Japanese or the Americans when it comes to
manufacturing. Though we are technologically lagging behind,
we make up for it with sheer manpower!