Myanma railways to ramp up carriage production next year
A new Myanma Railways passenger carriage factory built with Chinese help is expected to be up and running by the end of the next financial year, according to the factory’s general manager. The new Myit Nge factory is being built on a 27-acre plot some 12 miles outside of Nay Pyi Taw, to replace an aging facility of the same name, said U Tin Maung Than, the factory’s general manager. Work on the new facility began in June 2015 and was originally scheduled to finish in November this year. Budget issues, however, mean the completion date has been pushed into the next financial year, he said. Chinese firm CSR Sifang Co is providing the machinery and expert training to operate the factory, but all the buildings are funded from the Myanmar budget, he added. “All the buildings are being built from the state-budget,” he said. “Only 40pc of the buildings are done, and that just depends on the budget [we get].” Because the buildings are still under-construction, the factory has not managed to produce any of an initial 60-passenger carriage production quota on site, said U Tin Maung. However, 39 Chinese-built coaches have arrived and are now in operation, he said.
