Raebareli: In what is considered to be the biggest achievement since the establishment of the factory, 873 coaches have been made in the last 6 months at the Modern Rail Coach Factory located in Lalganj near Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh. Indian Railways started coach production in its third railway passenger coach manufacturing unit in Lalganj in 2009.
During 2011-12, 18 coaches were manufactured and during 2014-15, 46 coaches were made in the factory. More than 10 years after the establishment of the factory, during the financial year 2024-25, 873 coaches were manufactured in the six months from April 2024 to September 2024. This is the highest production of the factory in six months to date. This is 90 coaches and 11% more than 783 coaches in the last financial year. This includes 122 coaches of Deendayalu, 211 coaches of 3 AC, 210 coaches of 3 AC economy, 60 coaches of 2 AC, 85 coaches of sleeper, and other coaches.
During the first six months of 2024-25, 211 coaches of 3 AC have been produced, which is approximately 13 times more than the 19 coaches manufactured in the first 6 months of the previous year, 2023-24. In the first 6 months of the financial year 2023-24, 134 coaches of Deendayal were produced. The target for this financial year is to manufacture 2506 coaches.
Prashant Kumar Mishra, General Manager of the Modern Coach Factory, said, "In the first 6 months of this year, we have achieved the best target production. This is the highest production since the factory was built. We have taken our production forward keeping in mind the general public. Coaches of General, Sleeper, General Chair and Garib Rath Third AC have been made on a large scale."
"Initially we did not have sufficient infrastructure. We trained thousands of fitters, technicians, and welders to meet the demand. Their skills are being continuously improved. Retired army technicians were also hired. Trained manpower of more than 40 retired army personnel was taken. This has proved very beneficial," he added. The general manager added that they aim to make coaches of Vande Bharat train by the end of this year.