Indian Railways plans aluminium coach manufacturing facility at Palakkad site

The languishing land acquired by the Kerala government in Palakkad to set up a rail coach factory may finally be put to use as the Indian Railways plans to issue a tender to set up an aluminium coach factory at the site.

The tender for the factory, to be built under the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode, is awaiting consent from railway minister Suresh Prabhu.

The development comes close to the successful trails of Spanish Talgo coaches which are made of aluminium. The Indian Railways at present uses Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches which are made of steel and thus are heavier leading to high fuel consumption.

“We have moved the file for the Palakkad factory to manufacture aluminium coaches on PPP basis. We did RFQ (request for proposal) once for a steel coach factory but no response came in. Ultimately rail factories will manufacture aluminium coaches in the future,” a railway ministry official said requesting anonymity.  

The Palakkad factory was announced in the railway budget of 2008-09. The rail coach factory—for which the foundation stone was laid on 22 February 2012—has been unable to see the light of the day. As per initial plans, a steel coach factory was to be set up and state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) was to be an equity stakeholder. However, the plan did not materialise due to unenthusiastic response from private entities.

“We have begun discussion on manufacturing aluminium coaches in Palakkad. It is pending approval,” said another railways official. “We will go for a global tender if the approval for the aluminium factory comes in. In the tender, Talgo, along with other aluminium coach manufacturers, will be free to participate.”

“Aluminium coaches are costlier. But despite being costlier because of its lightweight, we will be able to get good returns by cutting down time. It eventually becomes more economical” he added.

According to experts, setting up a factory for manufacturing aluminium coaches is a futuristic approach.  

“If that’s the future, then I think it’s a good idea that the railways is already planning so. Since the other coaches we have in existing coach factories in Kapurthala and Chennai are traditional LHB coaches, I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said transport economist G. Raghuram, who is also professor at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad.

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