Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli


Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli is a rail coach manufacturing unit of the Indian Railways at Lalganj near Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh. The factory is the third facility in India that produces railway compartments besides the Integral Coach Factory at Perambur in Tamil Nadu and the Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala in Punjab. The factory was inaugurated on 7 November 2012.

History

The project was approved in the Supplementary Railway Budget for 2006-07. Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the factory in February, 2007 and land acquisition for the project commenced in April, 2007. However, in 2008, following the victory of the Bahujan Samaj Party in the Uttar Pradesh elections of 2007, the new government under Chief Minister Mayawati cancelled the land deed for the factory halting construction work there. The Allahabad High Court permitted the project to proceed after a public interest litigation petition was filed before it. In January 2009, construction of the factory began again which was inaugurated once again by Sonia Gandhi. The same month, Indian Railways signed a 99-year land lease agreement with the Government of Uttar Pradesh. The delay led to the cost of the project rising from an initially estimated 1685 crores to about 2500 crores.

Overview

The factory has come up on a total area of 541 hectares of land of which 283 was acquired from private parties. The factory was constructed by the IRCON International Limited. 1450 jobs are to be given to families that were affected by the land acquisition besides the compensation package and the Lucknow Division of the Northern Railways is expected to generate another 1000 job opportunities as a result of the factory becoming operational. The factory adheres to stringent pollution control norms for curbing air pollution and spillage of oils and employs fume and sewage neutralisation systems.

Production

The factory is expected to manufacture 1000 Linke Holfmann Busch coaches annually.
Anubhuti coaches, which are state of the art LHB coaches featuring ergonomically designed cushioned seats, LCD screens, modular toilets and stylish interiors, announced in the Railway Budget of 2013 are to be produced at the Rae Bareli coach factory. These coaches will progressively be introduced on the Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express trains.
There is a proposal by MCF to make aluminium coaches potential to operate at speed of 250 km/hr. The life of coach may go up to 40 years. This will be manufactured under Make in India initiative.