FOR SAFETY AND COMFORT

Now, steel undercarriage for Southern Railway coaches

V Ayyappan | TNN

Dec 9, 2009:

Chennai: To prevent corrosion and also to enhance passenger safety, the Loco Works in Perambur will install a stainless steel undercarriage on all existing coaches as and when they come for mid-life overhaul.
Though the Integral Coach Factory in Perambur has begun manufacturing the undercarriage (‘trough floor’ in railway parlance) using stainless steel, a majority of coaches continue to have an iron undercarriage.
The coaches are prone to corrosion because of water and waste discharge from toilets. The Loco Works conducts a periodic overhaul, which is basically patchwork; major components are not replaced. The Railway Board has now decided to allow a ‘mid-life’ overhaul of coaches, which comes 13 years after a coach has been used, and the installation of a stainless steel undercarriage. The life of a coach is 25 years, according to the board stipulation.
“We will install stainless steel trough floor on coaches that come for mid-life overhaul. Three coaches were fitted with these in January on an experimental basis,” said chief workshop manager, Loco Works, Nawal Kishor Toppo. He added: “We have written to the board stating that the stainless steel trough floor can be fixed on coaches that are taken up for mid-life overhaul. The workshop is also gearing up to handle such overhaul.”
“We change the trough floor, sole bar (beneath), head stock, toilets, berths and other equipment to ensure that the coach can be used without worrying about corrosion,” Toppo said.
Sources said that corrosion was a problem that affected the safety of coaches. Recently, a coach floor was found to have developed fissure because of corrosion. “The crack would have been dangerous if it had developed when the coach was running,” said an official.
“If the trough floor is made of stainless steel, such situations can be avoided and the life of the coach gets extended,” a senior railway official said.