In the year 2018, Indian Railways stopped making ICF Coaches to improve rail travel safety standards. After which the Indian Railways now only manufactures LHB Coaches.
The Narendra Modi government at the center is currently changing the coaches of all trains to LHB coach (Linke Hofmann Busch). Because of which the government has stopped making ICF Coach. Do you know why Indian Railways has stopped making blue coloured ICF coaches and now only red-coloured LHB coaches are being made?
Difference between ICF and LHB coaches
In the year 2018, Indian Railways stopped making ICF Coaches to improve rail travel safety standards. After which the Indian Railways now only manufactures LHB Coaches. The traditional ICF (ICF) design coaches of this railway mail and express trains are being converted into LHB in a phased manner.
1- Linke Hoffman Bush (LHB) coaches are less weight than Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coaches.
2- After the accident, the coaches of the ICF coach climb on top of each other, because it has a Dual Buffer system. Whereas LHB coach coaches do not climb one after the other after the accident. Due to this, fewer people will be killed in the accident.
3- Air brake is used in ICF coach, while disc brake is used in LHB coach.
4- ICF coaches have less seating capacity (SL-72, 3AC-64) whereas LHBs have higher seating capacity (SL-80, 3AC-72).
5- The ICF Coach’s Ride Index is 3.25, while the LHB Coach’s Ride Index is between 2.5–2.75.
6- ICF coach needs to be repaired once in 18 months while LHB coach needs to be repaired once in 24 months. Because of which SK maintenance also costs less.
7- The maximum speed of ICF coach is 110 km per hour, while the maximum speed of LHB coach is 200 km per hour. Also, its operating speed is 160 km per hour.
Comfortable trip
Dual spring suspension is used in ICF coaches to avoid shaking during travel. Because of which the traveler does not get much rest during the journey. While LHB coaches use two types of suspension systems. Which is called axle spring and four shock absorbers as primary suspension and outer coil spring, inner coil spring and shock absorber are called secondary suspension. Because of this, LHB coaches experience fewer shocks than ICF coaches.