TIRUCHY: With Indian Railway deciding to convert its entire fleet of diesel locomotives to electric ones, work is under way to upgrade Southern Railway's maintenance shed at Ponmalai at a cost of about Rs 13.5 crore. The upgrade of the maintenance shed, which currently handles diesel locomotives, into a facility that can handle the overhaul of about 100 electric train engines will be carried out in three phases and be completed by 2024, officials said.
As part of the first phase, which commenced last year with an outlay of about Rs 2.7 crore, the railway is focusing on upgrading the shed for handling basic maintenance of the electric locomotives. "Usually, a locomotive has to undergo some basic maintenance and service inspection after clocking 2,500 km. We have already started handling such works as we have completed about 80% of Phase I works. The remaining works under the phase would be completed by October," an official said.
The second phase is the most crucial, senior officials said, as they pointed out that it will equip the unit with the infrastructure for undertaking complete overhauling of electric locomotives. It will be carried out at a cost of about Rs 8.8 crore. "In the second phase, we would instal two 50-tonne cranes and necessary infrastructure for handling the maintenance of more locomotives. Once we complete this phase, we would be responsible for the complete overhaul of about 100 locomotives of Southern Railway. We expect the second phase works to be completed by the end of 2024," a senior official explained.
In addition, the railway would construct a building in Ponmalai at a cost of about Rs 2 crore for the testing and maintenance of electric components of the locomotives. This work under the third phase would also be completed by 2024, officials said.