Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Pilot project for discharge of excreta from trains

CHENNAI: The Railways have launched a pilot project for controlled discharge of excreta from trains in select Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express trains.

If successful, it will be introduced in all trains, Minister of State for Railways R.Velu said here on Tuesday.

Taking part in the centenary celebrations of the Basin Bridge Coaching Yard here, he said clearing excreta from platforms and tracks was a major problem. Various methods, including controlled discharge and bio-degradable systems, had been tried.

As the bio-degradable system was costly, the administration decided to go in for the controlled discharge. This would help to maintain the stations cleanly.

A major complaint from passengers was the presence of rodents and cockroaches in coaches. An ultrasonic rodent-cum-pest repeller and on-board rodent control system had been introduced in addition to regular fumigation. Though pest-free coaches were difficult to achieve, the Railways wanted to keep coaches as clean as possible, he said.

The Minister complimented the coaching yard for introducing many innovations in maintenance of coaches. He announced Rs.5 lakh as group award for yard employees and honoured retired staffers.

Chief Mechanical Engineer V. Carmelus said that of the 20 coaching depots in Southern Railway, Basin Bridge was the biggest, maintaining more than 1,000 coaches. It was the first to get ISO certification.

Chennai Divisional Railway Manager S.K. Kulshrestha said the depot launched many innovative activities, including refurbishing pantry car, upgrading the interior of all coaches of the Kovai Express, refurbishing AC chair car of the Sapthagiri Express and computerising coach maintenance.

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