The Thanjavur - Chennai Egmore - Thanjavur Uzhavan Express (Train Nos. 16865/16866) has been adjudged the ‘Best Maintained Train’ in the Southern Railway zone for the 2022-2023 financial year.
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The primary maintenance of this daily night train is being done at the sprawling Broad Gauge Coach Care Centre situated near the Tiruchi railway junction. Various aspects were taken into consideration by the Southern Railway administration while adjudging the Uzhavan Express as the ‘Best Maintained Train’. The 22-coaches train belonging to the Tiruchi Railway Division is presently being operated with the conventional ICF coaches in both directions.
Railway sources said various parameters including coach cleanliness, toilets’ maintenance, exterior appearance, maintenance of gadgets inside the coaches and reliability of the coaches were all looked into before adjudging the Uzhavan Express as the ‘Best Maintained Train’.
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Further, passenger complaints in respect of this train were comparatively less. The award for this train was given to the Tiruchi Railway Division at the 68th Railway Week Celebration organised at the General Manager’s Level in Chennai recently. The Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer, Tiruchi Division A.T. Pandian received the award from the Southern Railway General Manager R.N. Singh in the presence of the Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer, Southern Railway P. Suresh, Divisional Railway Manager, Tiruchi M.S. Anbalagan and other senior railway officers.
The sources said the Tiruchi Railway Division has two Broad Gauge Coach Maintenance Depots : one at Tiruchi and another at Villupuram railway junction. Around 400 coaches including Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) rakes are maintained at the Tiruchi BG Coach Care Centre. Besides Uzhavan express, the primary maintenance of the inter-state Tiruchi - Howrah- Tiruchi , Mannargudi - Bhagat Ki Kothi - Mannargudi and Tiruchi - Thiruvananthapuram - Tiruchi Intercity expresses are also done at the Tiruchi Coach Care by a team of railway technical personnel.
The entire formation of trains including their bogies, braking system, wheels, couplers and springs among others besides its exteriors are thoroughly examined every time when they come for primary maintenance before being sent back for regular operation. There is a well laid-out schedule in place for primary maintenance of the train sets at the Tiruchi and Villupuram coaching depots, the sources said adding that primary maintenance of inter-state express trains such as the Villupuram- Kharagpur, Puducherry - Mangaluru and Villupuram -Purulia are done at the Villupuram Coaching Depot.
Awards for Tiruchi division
The Tiruchi Railway Division bagged nine awards in total including the Overall Runners-up GM’s Efficiency Shield for 2022-2023 at the Railway Week celebrations held in Chennai.
The Divisional Railway Manager, Tiruchi M.S. Anbalagan received the GM’s Inter-Divisional Overall Efficiency Shield (Runner) from the Southern Railway General R.N. Singh. Ten employees of Tiruchi Division were also awarded by the General Manager for their meritorious and commendable work during 2022-2023, a release from the Division said.