train 18 indias first engineless train that was launched by the integral coach factory icf on tuesday is expected to cut down travel time by at least 10 on shorter routes spearheading its manufacturing sudhanshu mani general manager of icf indian railways in an interview with toi talks about the train set will not transform travel experience but also coach manufacturing in the countrywhat is unique about the train18 experienceindians will soon get to travel in a train which has facilities on a par with flights the plush interiors and compact toilets are worldclass with touchfree fittings and vacuum system in aircraft and all of this was built completely in india within 18 months to build a similar train set train20 foreign companies like stradler siemens and bombardier take three to four yearswhat was the inspiration for the train18 ideafor any developed rail network train sets is the natural step forward as they cut down on travel time are easy to turnaround at stations and have hasslefree maintenance in india this idea was debated for 20 years and became a victim of departmentalism in indian railways but the more it is delayed the more india will be left behind i was determined to implement it and i realized that icf was the right place to manufacture it as the staff and officers have the talent and enthusiasm and so went ahead with itwhat were the challenges in executing this ideathere was a major doubt if this could be done without importing technology also it had its share of naysayers in the railway board a large part of the work was given to indian companies which were challenged to finish the work at a record time and at competitive prices work which usually takes a year was completed in four months the railway minister and railway board chairman supported this initiativewhat upgradation can be expected for future rakesthe exteriors and interiors are not yet of european standard im not fully satisfied the exterior should be as smooth as an automobile these will be upgraded in future modelswhat was the most difficult design elementseats we wanted airlinelike seats but realized that there are 500 aircraft in india but none of the seats are made in india so we had to import them from spain but we have ensured that two indian companies one in chennai and another in gurgaon will learn and make similar seats and cater to the domestic airline industry the challenge with the braking system made by an indian company was to reduce the cost they will be reducing the price for the upcoming third to the sixth rakeicf has staff strength of 10400 but a lot of work is outsourced to private firms is the government employee unable to deliver as well as the private agencythere is no such shortcomings in the work of the government employee our plan is to not have a large workforce but a competent and committed one the staff strength is being reduced