Fifty years of indigenous railway coaches
R. SOUNDARARAJAN
India Post issued a five rupee stamp on December 19, 2005 to commemorate the golden jubilee of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Perambur, Chennai. It features a railway passenger coach and a train with the factory in the background.
The ICF, the largest coach factory in Asia, was started in technical collaboration with Swiss Car & Elevator Manufacturing Corportaion Ltd, Schlieren, to the north-west of Zurich.
It began producing "all-steel all-welded integral railway coach shells" to replace the wooden-framed coaches which were in use for nearly 100 years.
The first all-indigenous coach came out of the production line on August 14, 1956. since then more than 36,000 coaches have been build ranging from the ordinary to the luxurious.
Presently it fabricates about 200 kinds of coaches to suit the needs of all types of trains from super fast express to slow-moving passenger trains.
The ICF has received ISO certifications for excellence in quality and environment systems.
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