Giving a new lease of life to more than a decade-old worn out LHB coaches, a new rail workshop is coming up fast at Sonipat in Haryana at an estimated cost of Rs 580 crore.

The Rail Coach Naveenikaran Karkhana, the first such unit for mid-life rehabilitation of LHB coaches in India, is expected to begin the exercise of refurbishing 12 to 14-year-old LHB coaches from July this year as the work is going on full speed for making it operational.

Refurbishing work entails redoing the entire coach including complete interior, panelling, roof top, AC and other electrical fittings, replacement of seats among others.

The shelf life of a LHB coach is about 30 years.

The refurbishing exercise also includes extensive body repairs, bogie repairs, wheel overhauling, painting, water tank repairs are done on these coaches.

The aim of the refurbishing is to give a complete new look to the coach in which barring the shell almost everything is replaced, said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the project.

While the Railways has a huge fleet of 70,000 coaches out of which the LHB are about 22,000.

Trains and coaches will become swankier, cleaner with these steps, said the official.

To begin with, the Sonipat unit will roll out 250 refurbished LHB coaches a year which will gradually increase to 300-400 a year.

From periodic maintenance to mid-life rehabilitation, there have been several steps taken and various projects launched in order to give an essential infrastructural boost to the trains on the network and the railway stations.

In its endeavour to provide passenger safety and convenience, the railways is taking several new steps.

According to the railways, the repair and improvement of passenger coaches is a continuous process.

From periodic maintenance to mid-life rehabilitation, there have been several steps taken and various projects launched in order to give an essential infrastructural boost to the trains on the network and the railway stations.