The first automatic railway coach washing plant in the state has started at Vadodara Railway Station. Ranoli’s Oriental Manufacturing Company of Vadodara has built the first rail coach machine in Gujarat and installed it in the Memu Shed of Vadodara Railway Station. This facility will wash a train of 24 coaches in 10 minutes. The washing system will use only 20% of the freshwater for each train while the remaining 80% will be recycled and used. It will save 950 liters of water per coach.
According to Deputy General Manager of Oriental Manufacturing Company, Chirag Patel, this technology is used for washing trains abroad and after studying the indigenous system it has been developed by the company. Usually, washing a coach of Indian Railways wastes about 1,200 liters of water. While this system will use only 250 liters of new water. This automatic washing plant will save water from the timely washing of rail coaches.
The washing of the coaches requires up to 24 employees at a time. However, this automatic system will need only two people to operate the machine and will wash the train at a speed of only 4 kilometers per hour.
The major benefits of the installation of Auto Coach Washing Plant (ACWP) are:
- Less turnaround time of MEMU rakes coming for maintenance and washing and hence it will increase the availability of rake for services. A typical rake of 12 coaches takes only 10-12 minutes for exterior washing.
- Manpower cost and water saving:
Comparing the cost per coach (Rs. 588) of last LOA and cost per coach (Rs. 281) of the new sanctioned estimate which includes internal cleaning. If the current usage of 30 Coach per day is assumed then the yearly savings will be around Rs. 26, 45,082. - Improved Quality of Exterior Washing:
Controlled application of detergent leads to consistent cleaning, no damage to exterior colors and optimum use of materials, and hence consistent washing quality without damage to the paint or compromising on the aesthetic look of coaches. - Future Scope for Better Utilisation of ACWP:
Currently, 30 MEMU Coaches per day are washed with the ACWP. As per the projected increase in holding of MEMU coaches as more routes after electrification expected to run MEMU services washing capacity will be enhanced to 60-60 Coaches/day. - The capacity of ACWP is around 240 Coaches per day. For better utilization of the machine mainline coaches based at Vadodara can be washed at MEMU Shed ACWP and further save manpower and water cost.
It will be of great service to the nation as it will decrease the expenditure and at the same time preserve natural resources of the nation and provide clean and hygienic travel experience to the customers in accordance with Railway Boards policy of SWACHH RAIL and SWACHH BHARAT mission.
