Now, 24 railway coaches canbe cleaned in 10 minutes flat!

Cleaning of the exteriors of a 24-coach train, which otherwise takes about four hours, can now be done in just 10 minutes flat! This will be a reality, once the automatic coach washing plant set up near the Coaching Depot at Kancharapalem at a cost of ₹1.41 crore is commissioned.

The unit will help not only save time, but also reduce water consumption and manpower requirements. The state-of-the-art facility is the first of its kind to be set up in the limits of East Coast Railway (ECoR), the Railways officials say, adding that a similar plant proposed in Puri could not make much headway in view of the delays due to three cyclones hitting Odisha last year.

How it works

The automatic washing plant has four vertical brushes extending up to the height of the coach, two circular brushes for circular movement and scrubbing, and a few other brushes to clean the curved portion at the lower end of the coach exterior.

“The washing plant will result in saving of 70% to 75 % of water used for cleaning of coach exteriors when compared to manual cleaning. The plant is equipped with sensors to track the movement of the coaches and automatically operate the brushes and release water and detergent. The coaches will be moved at a speed of 5 km/hr to ensure thorough cleaning,” says Coaching Depot Officer Mohnish Bramh.

Three-stage cleaning

Furthermore, the waste water treated by the existing 500 kl/day Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) located at the Coaching Depot will be used for the cleaning of the coaches first, while RO water mixed with detergent will be used in the second stage and again fresh water will be used to wash off the detergent foam. Finally, a vertical blower would be used to dry the coach exteriors. The entire process will be completed in just 10 minutes, he explains.

Manual cleaning of the exteriors by two persons, one on either side of a 24-coach train, would take about four hours. “We plan to set up one more 5 kl ETP near the coach washing plant, about 500 metres away from the existing one. This will provide treated water for dedicated use of the washing plant. The end panels of the coaches will, however, have to be cleaned manually as the brushes will not reach that area,” Mr. Mohnish says.

The internal washing and cleaning of the coaches, electrical and other repairs would be undertaken manually in the pit lines at the coaching depot. The plant will be commissioned soon.