Title - President Pranab Mukherjee may open Harnaut factory

PATNA: President Pranab Mukherjee is likely to inaugurate the coach maintenance workshop at Harnaut in Nalanda, the home district of CM Nitish Kumar, on October 3. Though the President's programme is yet to reach the East Central Railway (ECR) headquarters, Hajipur, railways has started preparation for the inaugural function at Harnaut.Incidentally, it would be the first major project of railways in Bihar which would be formally inaugurated by the President. Former President A P J Abdul Kalam had laid the foundation of the workshop on June 30, 2003.This project has taken about nine years to get going. The railways has started trial periodical overhauling (POH) work of coach maintenance at the workshop.Two bogies are undergoing trial maintenance there at present, a senior ECR official said.According to an ECR official, railways has been handed over the charge of sheet metal shop, bogie repair shop, wheel axle shop, bogie repair shop and administrative block (IT section) of the workshop.At present, railways has been carrying out signalling work on the entire route from Bakhtiarpur to Harnaut workshop. Track linking work up to the workshop is almost complete on Patna-Bakhtiarpur mainline and Rajgir-Bakhtiarpur routes, he said.Sources said the railways has also completed road cum drainage system at the workshop. Carriage repair shop has been set up with rare equipment to cater to the needs of coaches, including LHB German coaches.

The ECR, which has been sending coaches outside the state for periodical overhauling, will thus get the OH work done at Harnaut. Its present capacity for POH is about 50 coaches per month, which is likely to be augmented up to 100 coaches per month, sources said.