Bangladesh in discussion to buy rail coaches of ICF

Chennai: Bangladesh Railway Minister Mohammed Nurul Islam on Thursday visited to the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) here and expressed interest in the LHB coaches and DEMU coaches made by it.

The minister inspected LHB, Vistadome, LHB AC II-tier, and LHB AC III-tier coaches, and air-conditioned Self Propelled Inspection Cars (SPIC).

According to ICF officials, the Bangladesh government has evinced interest in the coaches made by factory as Bangladesh is now converting its metre-gauge tracks to broad-gauge tracks.

An ICF official told IANS that the Bangladesh minister had told the ICF officials that the coaches made by the coach factory would be of immense help in modernising Bangladesh railways.

He also said that the Minister has confirmed that a team of senior officials from Bangladesh would soon be arriving at the ICF for taking forward further discussions.

The ICF had earlier exported metre gauge coaches to Bangladesh and according to ICF officials, the performance of those coaches was exemplary and hence the present enquiry.

The Bangladesh minister has explored the possibility of importing train sets for mass commute such as DEMUs. The ICF had exported train sets to Sri Lanka and Nepal recently.