CHENNAI: Buildings of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) including marriage halls, institutes, staff quarters and parks, attract the attention of locals and passers-by, courtesy new name boards in Tamil.
The 63-year-old railway coach production unit has begun to rename its buildings, including more than 55 year old buildings such as marriage halls, institutes and workers and staff quarters. The ICF Golden Jubilee Kalyana Mandapam (first floor) has been renamed after Kambar, a Tamil Poet, while ICF New Kalyana Mandapam (ground floor) named after ‘Tholkappiar, another poet and author of ‘Tholkappiyam’.
Similarly, another marriage hall, ICF Diamond Jubilee Community Hall has been renamed as Thiruvalluvar Marriage hall.
The ICF institutes - Senior Institute and Junior Institute located on New Avadi Road and Constable Road are being renamed after former President A P J Abdul Kalam and Mahakavi Bharathiyar, a poet and freedom fighter. “We wanted to increase the bondage between workers and management. Out of 10,500 staff and workers, 95 percent of them are Tamils. So, we wanted to connect to workers much closer so as to build their confidence and increase their morale in the work place,” said R Mohanraja, Principal Chief Personnel Officer, ICF.
The idea was mooted by personnel department of ICF and subsequently got the nod of General Manager S Mani. The new name boards were erected at marriage halls and the works on other buildings are being carried out.
While Southern Railway buildings, including hospitals and schools, are named conventionally and not allowed to be named after individuals, the coach production unit went ahead with its decision with more caution.
“Naming the buildings is a sensitive business. So, after the Tamil poets, we have decided to use the names of landscape of ancient TN, excluding ‘Palai’ which denotes desert,” added Mohanraja. East Colony Welfare Centre renamed after Mullai, while North Colony and West Colony are to be called as Marutham and Neidhal welfare centres. The South Colony welfare centre will be called Kurinji welfare centre. The ICF parks are renamed as Senthamizh Solai, AmudhaSurabi and Pazhathottam. Besides, four parks have been named after workers a month before retirement.
“Four parks in South, East, West and North colonies of ICF have been named after technicians - Palanirajan, Ranganathan, Sugumar and Mahalingam. The parks were inaugurated by them last four months,” added an officer.
SR GM inspects Arakkonam workshop
Chennai: Southern railway General Manager R K Kulshrestha, inspected the Arakkonam engineering workshop on Wednesday. The GM, accompanied by Chennai Divisional Railway Manager Naveen Gulati and other officials took stock of the activities at the workshop and Flashbutt welding plant. With 11 shops and 400 staff, the old workshop caterered mainly to track and bridge components like welded plate girders, composite girders, curved track switches, joggled fish plates, glued insulated rail joints, for the Civil Engineering Department of SR and South Western Railway. Other zones also approach Arakkonam Workshop for their needs.
Summer spl between Mettupalayam, Coonoor
Chennai: To cater to the demand of tourists and heritage enthusiasts of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway during summer, Southern Railway is to operate a Mettupalayam - Coonoor summer special train between April and June. According to a press release, the summer train comprising three coaches will be operated between Mettupalayam and Coonoor from March 31st and June 24.
A total of 52 services will be operated in both directions. While the fare of reserved ticket of NMR train between Mettupalayam and Coonoor is Rs 25 for second class and Rs 125 for first class, the summer special train will cost Rs 800 for second class and Rs 1100 for first class respectively. For children aged between 5 and 12, first class ticket would cost Rs 650, and second class fare is Rs 500. No ticket is needed for children below five years. The carrying capacity of the summer special train is 132 per trip.