Chennai, June 2 (IANS)

The Bangladeshi railway minister Mohammed Nurul Islam who is on a visit to the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) here has expressed interest in the LHB coaches and DEMU coaches made by the ICF.

The minister inspected LHB, Vistadome, LHB AC II-tier, and LHB AC III-tier coaches and air-conditioned Self Propelled Inspection Cars (SPIC).

According to ICF officials Bangladesh government has evinced interest in the coaches made by Integral Coach Factory as Bangladesh is now converting its meter-gauge tracks to broad gauge tracks.

An ICF official told IANS that the Bangladesh minister has in the discussion told the ICF officials that the coaches made by the coach factory would be of immense help in modernizing Bangladesh railways.

He also said that the Minister has confirmed that a team of senior officials from Bangladesh would soon be arriving at the ICF for taking forward further discussions.

It may be noted that ICF had earlier exported meter gauge coaches to Bangladesh and according to ICF officials the performance of those coaches was exemplary and hence the present enquiry.

The Bangladesh minister has according to ICF officials explored the possibility of importing train sets for mass commute such as DEMU. The ICF had exported train sets to Sri Lanka and Nepal recently.