KOCHI: The state, which was prepared to witness yet another coveted railway infrastructure project slip through its fingers, has reason to rejoice. The Railway Board has approved the proposal to convert the diesel loco shed located at the Ernakulam Junction to an electric loco shed, the work for which has already begun.
“The electrification work is being carried out at an estimate cost of `75 lakh. Once the shed becomes operational, electric engines from anywhere under the Southern Railways can be repaired at the shed. Currently, all electric engines are repaired either in Salem or Erode in Tamil Nadu,” said a railway official, pointing out that sending locomotives to the neighbouring state whenever they needed repair was a time-consuming process.
According to the official, once converted, the electric shed can repair up to 1.5 times more locomotives than the diesel shed. The shed in Ernakulam can currently cater to 60 diesel engines at a time. “Unlike diesel ones, electric engines need not be maintained frequently. The former has to be mandatorily checked for repairs once in every 15 days,” said the official.
According to a source, the proposal to set up an electric shed in the district was a touch-and-go situation. “The Railway Board had earlier planned to shut down the shed in Ernakulam, and wanted to convert the diesel shed located in Erode instead. Especially considering that the shed at Erode had the capacity to cater to more than 150 locos, we were almost sure Ernakulam didn’t stand a chance.
There are more than 155 employees at the shed in Ernakulam Junction. We were afraid of being shunted out,” the source said.Meanwhile, a railway official said the diesel loco shed was being converted to electric as a part of the Railways’ policy to gradually phase out diesel engines. “The policy has been adopted in the wake of a ‘go green’ initiative. It will also lessen the financial burden,” the official said.