STAINLESS INDIA - Indian Stainless Steel Development Association

Since 2001, Rail Coach Factory (RCF)Kapurthala has been manufacturingstainless steel LHB (Linke HolfmannBush) coaches based on Germantechnology. These coaches are presentlybeing run in premium trains like Rajdhani,Shatabdi and a few Duronto trains.Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai(established in 1986) has beenmanufacturing coaches in corten steelbased on indigenous design (ICF design).Since last year, they have also startedmanufacturing stainless steel coaches ofLHB design. LHB stainless steel coachesare more expensive to begin with, but ‘LifeCycle Costing’ comparison proves thatby using LHB design, the benefitsaccrued by the railways year after yearwill more than compensate for the initialhigher cost. First, conventional AC coach(ICF design) costs Rs. 1.7 crore incomparison to LHB AC coach that costsRs. 2.5 crore. But, the life of ICF designedAC coach is only 25 years while stainlesssteel LHB AC coach lasts for 35 years;i.e. 40% longer service life. Second, thehigher strength of stainless steel enablesthe use of thinner gauge sheets in thecoaches thereby reducing the weight ofcoaches. This weight-saving by usinglight weight stainless steel helps inincreasing the length of the coach. Theresult is increased passenger carryingcapacity per coach and bringing in morerevenue to the railways. According topublished reports, LHB coaches bringdown transportation cost for everykilometer by about 12 to 15% even thoughits initial cost is higher. Third, becauseof higher corrosion resistance of stainlesssteel, LHB coaches need far lessmaintenance compared to corten steelStainless Steel Wins on Life Cycle Cost Comparisoncoaches, leading to significant costsavings. Fourth, because of lowermaintenance requirement, the availabilityof LHB coaches for service becomeshigher than that of corten steel coaches,and this means increased revenue percoach. Fifth, LHB coaches are capableof being run at speeds of upto 200 kmphcompared to 110 kmph for ICF coaches.Because of higher speeds, theturnaround time of trains will be shorter.This would also lead to increasedrevenue for IR.Thus, on Life Cycle CostComparison, we see that the so-called“more expensive” stainless steel LHBcoaches, in fact, turn out to beof economic advantage for IR.Continued from page 1Nickel Institute. In all the five cities, there was an overwhelmingresponse from the participants which were 650 in numbers.The workshop covered the following topics:• Sustainable Stainless Steel • Selection and DesignFundamentals • Surface Finishes • Building Exteriors – Roofing,Walls, Sunscreens and other Exterior Applications • StainlessSteel Structural Design • Sustainable Interior Design.The workshops were made successful with the help of oursponsors — BRG Group, Carl F India Pvt Ltd, Fabrinox, FeinPower Tools India Ltd, JSL Stainless Ltd, Sreevatsa StainlessSteel Fabricators Pvt Ltd, Outokumpu India Pvt Ltd and SunflagIron & Steel Co. Ltd.Presentation available at www.stainlessindia.org.STAINLESS INDIA / VOL. 16, NO.4 PAGE 11LIFE CYCLE COSTING: Considering the(1) increased service life of LHB coach;(2) the increased passenger revenue; (3)minimal maintenance and down time and(4) savings over every route-kilometer, itmakes eminent commercial sense for theIndian Railways to increase the share ofthe LHB coaches in its rolling stock.According to some reports, IR plans toannually produce 4,000 LHB coachesgradually replacing ICF design in a matterof a few years. The initial costcomparison of some of the typical LHB(German) design coaches and ICFdesign, conventional coaches are asunder :Type of Coach LHB Design Coach ICF Design CoachGeneral 2 nd Class Coach Rs. 1.2 crore Rs. 65 lakhSleeper Class Coach Rs. 1.3 crore Rs. 70 lakhAC 1 st Rs. 2.4 crore Rs. 1.7 croreAC 2 tier Rs. 2.4 crore Rs. 1.7 croreAC 3 tier Rs. 2.6 crore Rs. 1.6 croreAs per the press release of Indian Railways dated 2 nd December, 2011, Rail CoachFactory, Kapurthala and Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai have been sanctionedRs. 142.20 crores and Rs. 249.58 crore respectively, to enable them to manufacturethese upgraded stainless steel coaches.DisclaimerDrawings/photographs of equipment, machinery,products and services in STAINLESS INDIA are forillustrative purposes only and their inclusion does notconstitute or imply any endorsement of the items orthe companies that manufacture or distribute them byISSDA and its staff.Utmost effort is put into ensuring that there is noinfringement of copyright or IPR. In spite of our bestefforts, sometimes incorrect information creeps in,mainly because we have faith in those who contributearticles / images for us. Any such error, if at all, isdeeply regretted.