The first indigenously developed and manufactured train in the country under the ‘Make In India’ initiative, Medha, flagged off by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on the Mumbai suburban system on Saturday, March 18.
About Medha:
Although rakes have been manufactured in India before this, railways had to procure control circuit technology from foreign companies like Bombardier and Siemens.
This is the first time the technology, called the Medha System, was developed in India.
In addition to harnessing locally available resources, the India-made control circuitry of the rakes has also helped bring down costs.
Videos -Khurshed Lawyer
Officials are confident that the manufacturing cost will come down significantly once the production capacity increases. The rakes were manufactured at Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory and systems were configured in Hyderabad.
The first rake reportedly arrived in Mumbai on October 26, 2016 and the second one on November 26, 2016. After completing extensive trails, the rakes were cleared by the railway board on February 21, 2017.
