CHENNAI: The Mechanical Department of Southern Railway has bagged the best department shield for Indian Railways for 2017-18. Southern Railway General Manager R K Kulshrestha and Chief Workshop Engineer Shishir Dutt received the award from Railway Minister Piyush Goyal at the 63rd Railway Week celebrations at Bhopal on Monday. The slew of measures taken by mechanical department have improved the efficiency of coach maintenance. Particularly, introduction of on-board house-keeping service (OBHS) in 85 trains and two dedicated laundries set up at Basin Bridge and Kochuveli to wash linen for AC class passengers have received wide appreciation from passengers.
Out of 6,229 coaches, Railways have fitted bio-toilets in 65 per cent of coaches, which is one of highest among 16 zones in the country, a press release said. To provide better service to higher class passengers under ‘Swarn’ project, two coaches of Chennai Central-Mysuru-Chennai Shatabdi Express and Chennai Central - Coimbatore - Chennai Central Shatabdi Express have been upgraded. In addition, the Golden Rock Workshop (GOC), Tiruchy, received the prestigious 5-star label and National Award for Energy Efficiency from Bureau of Energy Efficiency of Union Ministry of Power.