Southern Railway to set aside space for maintenance of private trains

CHENNAI: Southern Railway will soon start work to either identify land or earmark facilities within its premises in Chennai and other cities in the state for private train operators to set up a yard to clean coaches, do technical checks and prepare their trains for trips. The facilities may have to be set up at Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy as private trains will be run from Chennai to these cities.
The letter to the general managers says space will have to be identified for private firms to set up their maintenance yard or offer space in railway’s facility for them to set up electrified pit lines, so the firms will be able to use them without depending on railway-owned shunting locomotives to maintain the trains.
The railway board has decided that maintenance of six trains — the services from Chennai to Mumbai, Mangalore, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari and Delhi — will be done in Chennai. It has also specified that the maintenance unit will have three lines for washing, interior cleaning and a spare line. There may also be an automatic washing plant which will clean the train exterior as it is driven through a pit line.
The zone will now identify whether Basin Bridge railway yard or Egmore yard has the facility to handle private trains or will look for space to install the new unit.
Sources said there might not be space for an electrified line and spare line in existing yards which already suffer from space crunch. “It looks like Salt Cotaurs area could be taken up for trains to Coimbatore, Mumbai, Delhi and Mangalore while the south-bound trains can be maintained at Tambaram. If that does not work out, all private trains could be moved to Tambaram too.”
Railways may also have to find an ideal station for departure of private trains.