Mozambique ‘Khush Hua’: Indian Railways To Export World-Class Coaches To African Nation, To Begin With

In a first, the Modern Coach Factory (MCF), Raebareli, will export 90 'Make in India' coaches to South Africa’s Mozambique through Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES), reports Financial Express.

“We will roll out the 90 coaches in three batches of 30 each,” an MCF official was quoted as saying by the Financial Express.

These coaches will be of “cape” gauge, which is a variant in between broad and meter gauge, he added.

Indian Railways will modify the coaches in terms of gauge, length and interiors according to the requirement of Mozambique railways. MCF will also supply AC First class, AC II Tier, AC III Tier, pantry cars, generator cars, non-AC restroom cars etc. to Mozambique.

The coaches will be of 1,067 mm cape gauge, and the length will be shorter compared to the Indian Railways’ LHB coaches.

MCF is expected to complete the export order by March 2020. “We are finalising the details of the design, and then tenders will be floated, and work will start,” the official said.

On the cost front, the official said, “An LHB coach costs around Rs 2.2 crore on an average, but given that the Mozambique coaches will be shorter in length and of cape gauge, the cost should be less than Rs 2 crore per coach.”

A team of officials from Mozambique Railways had recently visited MCF, Rae Bareli, and the Indian Railways coach factory noted the specifications of the order.