Ensuring safe journey, Indian Railways inducts 5 new maintenance machines

New Delhi, July 27: Indian Railways have proved their efforts in taking measures ensuring a safe journey for its commuters. In this respect, the department has chalked out various methods so that the passengers have no issues traveling.

 

In a new move to ensure a safe journey and track maintenance, the Indian Railways has now inducted five new machines. These engines include three highly efficient dynamic track tamping machines to measure tracks, a weight cleaning machine to scan tracks, and one point and crossings tamping machines for geometry correction.

These machines were inaugurated and flagged off by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday along with other members of the Railway Board.

Coaches have been renovated indigenously at a cost of Rs 18 lakh per coach for taking care of the accommodation needs of the staff of the track machines, providing them a comfortable home away from home.

The new 09-3X- Dynamic Tamping Express, costing about Rs 27 crore each, is a high output integrated machine having multiple functions. It is a machine used to tamp the weight under tracks to make them more durable. The machine can measure pre and post track geometry, correct the track to required geometry, can tamp three sleepers simultaneously, stabilize and measure post tamping track parameters under load to ensure quality.

This new system will eliminate the need for a separate stabilization machine which reduces operating costs and track possession time. This machine will vibrate and compact the loose stone ballast after tamping for safe movements of trains.

These machines have been manufactured in India under the Make in India initiative with imported components. Forty-two more such machines have been planned to be included in railways’ maintenance fleet over next three years.

This will further improve the safety, reliability and economy in maintenance of tracks over Indian Railways. This will also eliminate manual measurement of track quality after maintenance. The ballast cleaning machine inducted by railways will be used for screening of stones under sleepers on plain tracks and turnouts for restoring drainage and resilience of track to improve the mobility, safety and passenger comfort.

The other machine, points and crossing tamping machines for track geometry correction on turnouts will ensure safety on tracks. Currently, 32 such machines are in service over it and 62 more are planned to be inducted in the next three years.