Ponmalai railway workshop to undertake VB maintenance
Trichy: Railway Board has nominated Golden Rock railway workshop (Ponmalai GoC) in Trichy to conduct maintenance and overhauling of Vande Bharat (VB) rakes in place of Perambur workshop, Chennai. The workshop has prepared a preliminary estimate at Rs300 crore in the first phase to develop a comprehensive facility on 30 acres to maintain the rakes.
According to an official communication, Ponmalai GoC workshop will undertake major schedules (SS-I) of maintenance of Vande Bharat trains. This means primary, secondary and major maintenance in VB rakes including wheel and axle examination and routine cleaning work can be taken up at Ponmalai. Acknowledging the development, GoC chief workshop manager Santosh Kumar Patro said a comprehensive facility is proposed within the workshop, equipped with modern provisions, to maintain even the sleeper versions of VB rakes.
The facility will be designed to meet the needs for the next 15 years. "We will create maintenance infrastructure to handle 24 rakes, though presently VB trains have only 16 rakes. A detailed proposal will be sent to our headquarters for approval," Patro told TOI. Initially, the workshop management reserved 30 acres of land for the maintenance facility, which is likely to come up with two pit lines measuring 600 metres in length. A layout ensuring flexibility has been prepared for the facility to serve as maintenance yard for all VB trains operated by Southern Railway.
"VB rakes require comprehensive maintenance once in 18 months. Providing a maintenance option at Ponmalai workshop could very well help the region to get more premium trains," Trichy MP Durai Vaiko said. Presently, Tirunelveli-Egmore, Nagercoil-Egmore, and Madurai-Bengaluru are three VB trains running via Trichy, among 11 operated by Southern Railway. The new development has also revived the demand to operate new VB trains, one between Trichy and Chennai via Thanjavur. "Trichy is the only division in Southern Railway that does not have an originating VB train despite having
Ponmalai railway workshop
. Major revenue of the division comes from the mainline, but no premium trains are considered in this route. We expect the situation to change at least now," R Revanthkumar, Thanjavur District Railway Users Association, said.
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