Mancheswar carriage workshop to ramp up capacity

The Carriage Repair Workshop (CRW) of East Coast Railway at Mancheswar has firmed up plans to augment the workshop's periodic overhauling (POH) capacity to 150 coaches per month by March, 2014.

Presently the workshop's monthly POH capacity is 100 coaches including 90 non AC (air conditioned) coaches and 10 AC coaches.

"For augmenting the installed capacity to 150 coaches the Railway Board had sanctioned Rs 25 crore in 2008-09 and the installation of plants and machineries are at an advanced stage. A revised estimate of Rs 38 crore is under consideration of the Railway Board to accommodate special facilities for maintenance of Linke Holfmann Busch (LHB) coaches," said SK Pankaj, Chief Workshop Manager, CRW. LHB coaches are used, especially, in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. Mancheswar workshop has overhauled first ever LHB coach of Rajdhani express in May. Earlier, these coaches were being repaired at Liluah workshop in West Bengal, Jagadhri workshop in Haryana, Gorakhpur workshop in Uttar Pradesh. "Slowly, we are planning to increase the outturn to about five -six LHB coaches every month in one year," he said. The workshop, which will complete 30 years of its existence on December 31 this year, is also developing infrastructure for supply of wagon and locomotive wheel to divisions.