INDIA: East Coast Railway has completed the overhaul of an LHB type coach at its Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop for the first time. This follows an Rs250m modernisation of the CRW site, which has increased overhaul capacity from 100 to 150 coaches/month.
The work on the LHB coach included bogie, air brake and air-conditioning modernisation, interior refurbishment and repainting.
The development of local capabilities has removed the need for LHB coaches to be sent to workshops elsewhere on the IR network for modernisation, and is expected to increase availability and improve performance monitoring. Intensive monitoring of the time from a vehicle coming out of traffic to returning to service has enabled CRW to reduce overhaul times.
Planned future investments include locomotives and wagon wheel maintenance facilities.
