50% of total anticipated cost for upkeep of violet-white trains in Railway Budget has been allocated already to purchase their spare parts and other machinery
50% of total anticipated cost for upkeep of violet-white trains in Railway Budget has been allocated already to purchase their spare parts and other machinery
Some five years after they first hit the Mumbai rail tracks, the condition of violet-white trains seems to be running intro trouble, going by the substantial allocation of funds to procure their spare parts in the 2012-13 railway budget. And they have already been given nearly 50 per cent of the total anticipated cost for replacing important parts and equipment.
Out on a limb: Technical snags in the trains have left passengers in the
lurch several times, forcing them to walk to the nearest railway station.
Representation Pic
The Western Railway (WR) has been allotted Rs 6 crore, of the total anticipated cost of Rs 12.28 crore, only to procure spare parts for these Siemens trains in the coming fiscal. Railway officials claim that this is mainly to obtain vital apparatus like traction motors, power consuming equipment and other paraphernalia necessary to operate a train.
The remaining old trains functional on the Churchgate-Virar stretch have received another Rs 3 crore for upkeep. "There is a need for these spare parts to be available with the railways as they will prove useful in case of technical problems in a train," said a WR official. Time and again, commuters have been left in the lurch due to technical failures in the rakes, though officials claim that the snags persisted only initially when these trains first arrived in November 2007.
The budget has allotted another Rs 2.15 crore for procuring smaller machines and equipment to keep trains running. This money has been given particularly to Mahalaxmi workshop, which is responsible for maintenance of the rakes.
Each local train undergoes an overhaul every 18 months when it is checked thoroughly. Whenever there is a failure, spare parts are used to replace the defected machine part. Every day, WR runs around 1,200 services through 76 trains. There are seven trains that are kept on standby for emergency purposes on a rotational basis, and during this period they undergo maintenance.
Rs 11.5 cr
Money allotted to WR for procuring spares and equipment for trains
129
Number of new violet-white trains that have been procured under MUTP-I
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