'Fulfilled my dream': Ex-GM Integral Coach Factory recalls manufacturing 'Vande Bharat' train

In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Sudanshu Mani, former General Manager of the Integral Coach Factory where the first Train 18 was manufactured in Chennai talked about his experience of developing India's first semi-high-speed train.

Hyderabad: The semi-high-speed train 'Vande Bharat Express' also known as Train 18 is set to revolutionize the railways. In the budget 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid out the grand plan of introducing 400 semi-high-speed, next-generation Vande Bharat trains in the next three years. Built with entirely indigenous technology and designed at the lowest cost, the Vande Bharat trains are touted to be the game changer for the Railways. Sudanshu Mani is the former General Manager of the Integral Coach Factory where the first Train 18 was manufactured in Chennai. In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Mani talked about his experience of developing India's first semi-high-speed train.

ETV Bharat (EB): How did you get the idea to manufacture the country's first semi-high-speed train?

Sudanshu Mani (SM): India needed a modern train set for decades as the trend world-over had changed to the manufacture of train sets, usually a train with permanently coupled coaches without any locomotive and all the equipment mounted under the board. The project was, however, not happening. I asked for and got the posting of General Manager of Integral Coach Factory, (ICF) in 2016, unlike others who opt for a bigger zonal railway posting, because I had this dream and the vision, for a long time, to get a modern and fast train, with pleasing interiors and exteriors, designed and manufactured in India.

This was going to be, in all likelihood, my last assignment before superannuation, after completing nearly life-long service of 35 years as a railway officer, including a rare stint in Germany in the Embassy of India as the Minister (Railways). So, I had the dream, the vision, and perhaps the last opportunity to fulfill my dream.

I realized that I also had the good fortune that a great team, raring to go, was bequeathed to him. The officers and staff of ICF had the right capability and the chutzpah to take up a project of a new train design and manufacture it de novo, from scratch. The support industries in India had also reached near world-standard in certain key areas and were waiting for a friendly nudge to excel themselves. All it needed was to channel this energy to bring something noteworthy to fruition. I cherished the memories of those heady days when the team spent improving ICF in general and getting this train made in particular.

EB: Is the design and technology of the self-propelled system for this semi-high-speed indigenous and developed solely in India?

SM:Our train turned out to be cheaper because we decided that all R&D and design would be done by ICF and supported by allied Indian industry. Now, there were some areas out of more than a hundred where we felt that our capability was not quite world-class in three areas. Shakespeare has said through Touchstone in ‘As You Like It’, “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

So we had to accept this deficiency and make up for it as a ‘witty fool’ and not a ‘foolish wit’, a la Feste in the play Twelfth Night. Having decided that the train would have an IPR fully owned by ICF, we did not want to go to any multinational for assistance. So we engaged consultants, small firms which provide design consultancy.

The caveat was that everything that they do would be in association with ICF’s technical staff so that next time we need to design a better train, they would do it all by themselves. Moreover, we tried to source as many sub-assemblies, equipment, and components in India, instead of importing them and that had a cascading effect in lowering the price. The technology is, therefore, fully indigenous with IPR resting with ICF.

EB: The concept and development are one part, how did we get the manufacturing ecosystem in less than 2-3 years, so that we could build a complete train?

SM: Well, it was not ICF’s manufacturing eco-system alone but that of allied manufacturer-supplier from the allied industry as well. The team worked hard to upgrade the manufacturing culture and facilities in ICF and the allied industry also rose to the occasion.

EB: Do we have the capacity to roll out VB trains for our requirements and also to meet exports? To what extent the speed of the VB train increased further?

SM: First, the VB train is so designed that it can be upgraded to 200 Kmph with some modifications. But that is in the future, as of today, IR does not have adequate infrastructure even for running the train to its potential of 160 kmph. This brings us to the question of how many trains can we can run today in India.

After the two rakes were turned out in 2019, there had a lull but we will not go into that negativity and venal vilification of the train and the team that followed; the two trains continued giving trouble-free service. There is no point in recounting the negativity as we knew all along that no wrong had been done and no mud would eventually stick. Precious time was, however, wasted due to these machinations.

Things, however, changed dramatically since the present Minister of Railways took over and the vibes today are great. There have been various announcements: by the PM on 15th August 21 that 75 such trains would ply across the country in 75 weeks and the budget by Finance Minister that 400 Vande Bharat trains would be manufactured in the coming three years and so on.

A common refrain in railway and industrial circles has been that the government had overreached. I view it differently; it may not be possible in the next four years but it is doable in the next six years. So while 75 trains by August 15 2023 or 400 in three years since the Budget announcement are very long shots, what is important is that there is good movement and energy toward making more VB trains.

When the development of this train happened, we had the objective to provide a future-ready train to run at 160-180 km/hour. But infrastructure development has not kept pace with the development of the train. I know that Infra development needs greater effort but we are far short of the expectation.

So, as of now, the tracks are still not suitable to exploit the full potential of the train. But I will hasten to add that even at lower speed operation at 130 kmph, it is of great value as a fast and comfortable travel experience. The speed at which the train runs now excels all the other trains on the section. It can accelerate and decelerate faster thereby cutting down travel time. But it is a fact that the full potential of the train is not being exploited.

EB: Is this new generation train an alternative in India to bullet trains?

SM: The Bullet train, or a Shinkansen rail network train, was the first high-speed train to be built in the world 58 years ago, starting at 210 Kmph and reaching 320 km today. We are far from achieving that. Ours was a great team effort but it would be too pretentious to start a comparison. We will reach there someday, through genuine Atmanirbhar push, not through mere imports or screw-driver builds here, but for oonce, revel in our improved creation to entice ourselves to raise the bar.

As for the requirement, both types of trains are important. While Bullet trains would compete directly with air traffic or rather kill it, VB trains can give good competition to airlines for inter-city travel in the range of 500 kmph and when the sleeper version is made ready, converting long-distance journeys to convenient overnight travel.

EB: Indian railways have many legacy problems. Old generation trains, late running, no cleanliness. These are some of the issues. How Indian railways can get a facelift? What are your ideas on this?

SM: I will not get into what would happen; it depends a lot on the government. I will tell you what I think can be achieved and should be achieved, say, in the next 10/15 years. Except for one or two long-distance trains per route for the migrant population, I would like to see everyone traveling in air-conditioned trains without much increase in the fare.

And it is possible and I have written about it many times. I want the IR to regain the traffic it has lost to the road in the freight sector. For that, the Railways have to be imaginative, especially in the last mile pick-up and delivery. It is necessary to run trains to some kind of timetable for freights so that people are assured of deliveries especially, in the case of perishable items and other FMCG products.

I also would like to see functional stations where passengers can get into the train and get out without any hassle. I am not talking about fancy stations but functional ones. And last, but not least, I wish IR railways sheds its feudal mindset in governance and treat all its employees, including contract workers, porters, etc. with empathy and dignity.

EB: What is next on your agenda? Are you working on something new?

SM: I am reminded of the lines “Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing” in ‘Troilus and Cressida’ by Shakespeare. Nothing can replace those heady days at ICF and I am grateful to Indian railways for affording this opportunity to serve the country significantly. In my retired life, I am keeping myself adequately engaged but at a leisurely pace.

I am engaged in an advisory role in the corporate world and technical, strategic and investment consulting. I have authored seven books, including four on a subject of my special passion, art and railways, one each on the greening of the environment and collation of the works of Ghālib and Shakespeare, and the eighth and ninth ones are in pipeline.

My journey in leading and completing the unique Train 18 project is recounted in my best-seller book, ‘My Train 18 Story’, available on online book stores. I am also engaged in multiple activities like serving on the Advisory & Editorial Board of leading Railway & Metro journals, organization of Awadh Conclave (a festival of free thought), and Keynote/stand-alone speakers and panelists on platforms such as IIMs, IITs, TEDx, PMI & CII conferences, anchor for news analysis, art and culture on YouTube channel the public.

India and promotion and curation of Visual Arts in association with a prominent art gallery in Lucknow. I run a ‘not for profit art and culture center, Manis’ and preside over Rolling Cars’ Society, which promotes technical awareness. I write opinion pieces regularly on national issues of engineering and project management in leading newspapers, journals, and portals, and also write a blog regularly on subjects like current affairs, art, literature, etc.