Kharge announces bonanza for Hyderabad Karnataka region

Divisional office in Gulbarga, rail coach factory in Yadgir

Rajeev Bhargava, General Manager (right) , Rail Wheel Factory, Yelahanka, explaining the process of wheel manufacturing and axle forging to Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge at the factory in Bangalore on Monday.

Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge has announced two key projects for the Hyderabad Karnataka region.

While he has initiated steps to make Gulbarga a divisional railway headquarters, a demand that has been pending for long, the Ministry has released funds to set up a rail coach factory at Yadgir.

Speaking to presspersons after visiting the Rail Wheel Factory at Yelahanka here on Monday, Mr. Kharge said the administrative office of the Sholapur Division under Central Railway would be set up at Gulbarga. The office would look after maintenance and construction works under its jurisdiction.

Mr. Kharge said, “We are contemplating creating a new Railway division at Gulbarga by bringing lines scattered between three Railway zones — Central, South Central and South Western Railways. The new office would execute the new line work between Wadi and Gadag also.”

The rail coach factory at Yadgir will be set up at a cost of Rs. 750 crore to be spent in the next five years, with an initial investment of Rs. 75 crore. The factory will come up on 150 acres of land to be given free of cost by the State government and would have the capacity to manufacture 300 coaches a year once it is fully operational, Mr. Kharge said.

Coaches

The factory would produce Linke Holfmann Busch (LBH) coaches required for high-speed and premium trains. Indian Railways had entered into a contract with Alstom, Germany, for supply and transfer of technology. LBH coaches are presently manufactured at Rai Bareli and Kapurthala and the one at Yagir will supplement the production, Mr. Kharge said.

Except free land, the Railways will not ask the State government to share the costs, Mr. Kharge clarified. Both the initiatives, Gulbarga and Yadgir, are under the Union government, according to the special status to the region under Article 371 (J), he said.

Rail Wheel Factory

Mr. Kharge said the RWF, Yelahanka, has come a long way since its inception in 1984 .

Quality work

He commended the quality of production and said rejection of wheels of the RWF was at 6 per cent as against 8 per cent of other leading Griffin plants. It is a world leader in producing cast wheels for coaching stocks. One wheel is cast every two minutes and an axle is forged every four minutes, he said.