An automatic railway coach washing system and a slew of other facilities to ramp up the maintenance infrastructure were inaugurated in Mysuru on Saturday.
Sanjeev Kishore, General Manager, South Western Railway, Hubballi, who inaugurated the new facilities said the commissioning of the automatic coach washing plant ushers in a new benchmark for faster and more efficient cleaning of coaches.
He said the new facility is a multistage external cleaning system using a detergent solution, high-pressure water jet and vertical rotating brushes. In addition, it has an effluent treatment system and water softening plants for use of soft water for external washing.
This system will replace the current practice of cleaning rakes by manual application of chemicals and high-pressure jet, which is time-consuming, labour-intensive and water-guzzling. The controlled use of cleaning material results in reducing water, cost and manpower and thus paving the way for cleaner coaches for passengers in an efficient and eco-friendly manner, he added.
Nearly 60 to 70% of recycled water is used for washing in each washing cycle and the time taken to clean a 24-coach train is 5-6 minutes at the rate of 4-5 coaches per minute in comparison to manual practice running to over 180 minutes.
Mr. Sanjeev Kishore also inspected the LHB spring shop, carriage lift shop and wheel shop and inaugurated the newly installed state-of-the-art plasma cutting machine besides inspecting the Basic Training Institute at the Ashokapuram Workshop.
He said with the fleet of Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches expanding on the Indian Railway System, the Ashokapuram Workshop has a vital role to play in the periodical overhauling of these coaches which have improved safety features, greater riding comfort and are aesthetically more appealing leading to enhanced passenger satisfaction.
A release said the infrastructure at the coaching depot at Mysuru has also been augmented and the salient features include a covered shed of 100m length x 36m width having two maintenance bays, four examination pits, synchronised lifting jacks facility for all sick-lines, alternator testing bed (Dyna-drive) facility in one examination pit, 750V couplers, welding points, battery chargers and charging points in each maintenance bay, rainwater harvesting with groundwater recharging system and provision of translucent sheets in roof & side cladding for adequate daylight. The work on bay II is expected to be completed by June 2023, the release said.
U. Subba Rao, Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer, South Western Railway, Hubballi, Rahul Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Mysuru Division, and senior officials of Mysuru Division were present.
