Guard Your Legacy, ICF! Why Surrender Your Crown?

I have long maintained that, in the absence of any significant technological advancement in the Vande Bharat train technology since the prototype in 2018—aside from some cosmetic enhancements here and there—it is high time for ICF to shift gears and focus on designing and developing an indigenous 240-250 kmph train for Standard Gauge.

My blog connects:

http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2024/03/export-of-vande-bharat-trains-south.html

This would not exactly send the Japanese scrambling to slash their reportedly sky-high prices they have offered for the High-Speed Railway (HSR) trains, given that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR corridor is being built for speeds of 320 kmph. Nevertheless, it would channel India’s indigenous capabilities in the right direction, including a great opening in the field of exporting trains to  middle-income countries. So, the Railway Board’s decision asking ICF to take on this challenge was a breath of fresh air. With the right leadership and unwavering commitment, ICF could pull it off, certainly not in the unrealistic target of 24-25 but in around three years.

My gripe, however, lies in the fact that ICF has all but abdicated its unique position and responsibility as the only entity in India capable of designing and manufacturing higher-speed mainline trains. First, they inexplicably handed over the project of ten Vande Bharat Sleeper trains to BEML, instead of doing it in-house. And at a price tag heftier than that offered to the consortiums of TMH+RVNL and Titagarh+BHEL in a tender for 200 Vande Bharat Sleeper trains—Rs 135 crore vs. Rs 120 crore, respectively.

And now the unkindest cut of all. To add insult to injury, in one fell swoop, they have handed over the development of the 250 kmph train to BEML through a single tender bid. If this is not an act of self-sabotage, a slow but sure suicide of their own future, prestige, and pride, then what is?

It took tremendous resolve and an unyielding effort by a passionate team at ICF during those heady 18 months between 2017 and 2018 to craft Train 18, a beacon of national pride. But how quickly, and with such meekness, have they squandered that hard-earned glory? What was once a bold leap forward now seems like a distant memory, fading into the background.

Many may contend that BEML’s manufacturing quality outshines ICF’s (and troll me as is their habit—though they are also the same ones who go gaga over every Vande Bharat launch in their blind devotion to praising the government). But that is a weak self-defeating argument, one that a true creator like ICF should swiftly dismantle. The logical roadmap should be to raise the bar, improve quality, and fiercely guard what is rightfully yours—not to simply surrender it at the first sign of competition. Why yield the crown jewel of Indian train innovation so easily, when it is clear that the solution lies in fortifying your own capabilities? The essence of progress can never be in retreat but in pushing the boundaries further.

What more can I write? I have laid it out in detail recently in Hindu BusinessLine:

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/vande-bharat-questions/article68652519.ece

I do have the satisfaction that Lalit Chandra Trivedi and Shubhranshu, both Principle Chief Mechanical Engineer in succession at ICF during the execution of Train 18/Vande Bharat, also have echoed their views on the subject:

Indian Railways: purpose behind manufacturing two SG trains with speed potential of 250 kmph

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lalit-chandra-trivedi-11b25113_the-ministry-of-railways-intends-to-invite-activity-7239999709698813952-oaHI?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Quo Vadis, ICF? And why?

https://mechtechtalk.blogspot.com/2024/09/quo-vadis-icf-and-why.html?m=1

As the leader of the Train 18 team, it is deeply painful to witness this, though I do know that these words will, once again, fall on deaf ears. As the Lear in the bard’s King Lear lamented, "…I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears do scald like molten lead…"— for it stings to witness such potential squandered, with deaf ears all around and no tears shed as a once-great institution willingly withers away.

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