A third railway coach factory has been opened in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh following an investment of $400 million.
The new rail coach factory will manufacture and roll out 1,000 state-of-the-art railway stainless steel coaches every year – a number which is expected to increase to 2,500 coaches in the next few years.
The foundation stone for the rail coach factory was laid by Sonia Gandhi in February 2007 and the inauguration for construction of the factory was done by her on January 2009.
The coaches would have higher carrying capacity and provide more comfort to passengers.
Apart from resistance to corrosion, the coaches will be equipped with modular fittings, microprocessor-controlled air conditioning and environment-friendly controlled discharge toilet systems, a Railways official said.
The coach factory has been developed in phases. In the first phase work has been completed on furnishing and finishing group of shops, temporary office and storage space, temporary accommodation and logistics support, embedded track and supporting electrical installation.
The second phase of construction is expected to be complete by April 2014. The works include construction of shell assembly shop, bogie shop, wheel shop, paint shop, machine shop and technical training center, after which the factory will manufacture coaches on its own.
It is a good news.