Process begins for upgrading infrastructure for maintenance of ‘Vande Bharat’ coaches in Tiruchi

Tender floated for upgradation of pit line to accommodate the semi-high speed train

The Tiruchi Railway Division has kickstarted the process of creation of infrastructure for the maintenance of the semi-high speed ‘Vande Bharat’ train at the Broad Gauge coaching depot here. 

One of the existing pit lines inside the sprawling coaching depot is to be upgraded with overhead electrical arrangements for the maintenance of the chair car ‘Vande Bharat’ train coaches. 

Southern Railway has already floated the tender for finalising the agency for upgradation of the pit line which would be in position to accommodate 20 ‘Vande Bharat’ coaches, a senior railway officer told The Hindu. It has sanctioned works to be taken up at a cost of nearly ₹ 2.3 crore for creation of necessary infrastructure at the Tiruchi coaching depot exclusively for maintenance of ‘Vande Bharat’ coaches.

In addition to creation of overhead electrical arrangements, civil works including laying of new pipelines are also proposed to be taken up at the pit line which is to be upgraded. The coaching depot has three pit lines of which one is to be upgraded to handle ‘Vande Bharat’ coaches, the officer said. 

The pit line is the place where the undergear of coaches are examined once the train moved after a trip. Cleaning of rake and testing of traction system as per the standard manuals would also be done at the pit line. The officer said plans were afoot to procure machinery for maintenance of ‘Vande Bharat’ coaches as part of creation of infrastructure. 

The Railway Board had identified Tiruchi as one of the cities in the Southern Railway zone for the maintenance of ‘Vande Bharat’ express coaches and advised the Southern Railway authorities to plan their maintenance by upgrading the infrastructure. The move came in the wake of the Indian Railway’s plan to induct more chair-car trains of the ‘Vande Bharat’ express over its entire railway network. The ‘Vande Bharat’ express trains are currently being operated from Varanasi to New Delhi and New Delhi to Katra broad gauge sections.  

Manufacture of the ‘Vande Bharat’ coaches was under way at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. Railway officials here expect that the ‘Vande Bharat’ coaches would be brought for maintenance to Tiruchi in the next financial year. However, the plan was to put in place the facilities much before the coaches were moved for maintenance.

The Tiruchi Coaching Depot carries out primary maintenance of coaches of Tiruchi - Howrah - Tiruchi, Mannargudi - Bhagat ki Kothi, Tiruchi - Thiruvananthapuram Intercity and Thanjavur- Chennai Uzhavan expresses regularly. 

he depot also carries out maintenance of Diesel Electric Multiple Unit rakes. The depot carries out maintenance of ICF-designed coaches as well as LHB (Linke Hofmann Busche) coaches.