Golden Rock Workshop eyes electric locomotives

Initial proposal for creation of new facilities forwarded to Southern Railway headquarters
With railway electrification being accorded a thrust across the country, the Golden Rock Railway Workshop has plans to overhaul electric locomotives at its sprawling premises in Tiruchi in the near future. At present, the over 80-year-old workshop overhauls diesel locomotives.

The workshop has already set the process in motion by readying an initial proposal for creation of new facilities to handle electric locomotives when they come for Periodic Overhaul (POH).

Ahead of coming out with the preliminary proposal, the workshop has sent its technical personnel to loco workshops where overhauling of electric locos is being done. The visit is aimed at getting a firsthand account of the existing infrastructure facilities in the workshops.

The initial proposal has already been forwarded to the Southern Railway administration, workshop authorities told The Hindu .

Creation of an exclusive shed inside the huge premises, augmentation of power supply to deal with electric locomotives, setting up of an overhead electric wire and other necessary facilities required have been mentioned in the proposal.

The proposal has estimated the cost to be anywhere between Rs. 20 crore to Rs. 25 crore, the authorities said. The Southern Railway authorities, on whose behest the workshop has proposed the new activity, will examine the proposal sent a few days ago.

Upon getting clearance from the Southern Railway administration, the detailed proposal will then be sent to the headquarters for onward submission to the Railway Board for final clearance.

Built during the colonial era, the Tiruchi workshop is one among the nodal railway workshops in the the country engaged in multiple activities such as overhauling diesel locomotives and passenger coaches, besides steam locos being operated in the Nilgiri Mountain Railway system. It is also involved in the manufacture of wagons for railway use and for the Container Corporation of India.

With electrification of railway sections being accorded a thrust across the country, electric locomotives operation to haul passenger trains is only going to rise in future, the authorities pointed out.

A senior railway officer, who inspected the Golden Rock workshop a few months ago, suggested that it could go in overhauling of electric locomotives given its huge premises coupled with highly skilled technical personnel.

Overhauling electric locos will require formal training, as the technical personnel have been carrying out overhauling of diesel locomotives, said an officer.

The workshop overhauls around 140 diesel locomotives every year. It has also created additional infrastructure facilities to overhaul high horsepower ‘EMD’ type diesel locomotives