In the years 1955 - 2000, Indian Railways used the Schlieren design cars of Swiss Car and Elevator Manufacturing Company that were built at the Integral coach factory (ICF), Chennai. While State of the Art in 1950s decade, these cars become obsolete by the 1990s.
In 1995 Indian Railways signed a supply and transfer of Technology agreement with LHB-Alstom of Germany. As a part of this contract LHB-Alstom supplied 24 passenger rail cars (19 AC Chair Car; 2 AC Executive Car; 3 Generator Car). After this initial supply, the LHB cars have been manufactured at Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala and more recently also at the ICF.
The LHB cars fitted with FIAT-SIG bogies are fit for a speed of 160 Kmph. Newer designs of the Fiat Bogie used in the Tejas and Train-18 are fit for 200 Kmph.
In 2018, Indian Railways has stopped manufacture of the ICF coaches. Indian Railway passenger rail-stock will soon be exclusively comprised of the LHB cars
19 окт 2020