The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Railway Board to stop allotting rakes to Chennai Port Trust

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 09, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Railway Board to stop allotting rakes to Chennai Port Trust

Special Correspondent

Decision follows spate of derailments in port network

CHENNAI: A spate of derailments in recent months on the 68-km long rail network of the Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) has resulted in the Railway Board informing the port administration that it will stop allotting rakes.

Noting that the Board's "unanimous decision" was communicated to the port sometime ago, Chennai Port Trust chairman K. Suresh on Monday underlined the need for coordinated efforts among the departments of the port to avoid derailments.

Such initiatives were important as around 30 derailments had occurred in the past few months, including 19 in a span of four days in early October. Though strict action, ranging up to suspension, was initiated against the employees concerned, the focus ought to be on preventive measures, he told a function at the port. sAny shortage in availability of the rakes, Mr. Suresh said, would affect the cargo evacuation and lead to substantial revenue loss for the port, whose average daily income was between Rs.1.5 crore and Rs.2 crore. On its part, the port sought to improve the maintenance of the tracks and had initiated the process of filling up the vacancies of locomotive drivers.

Crucial network

A senior official of the port told The Hindu that the rail network was crucial to the evacuation of bulk cargoes, including coal, granite, wheat, sugar and, to a limited extent, containers. Stating that the rake requirement — of about 25 daily — were just about being met by the Railway Board at present, he said the demand was bound to increase with the port getting more clean bulk cargoes.

ChPT deputy chairman G.J. Rao, while underscoring the significance of discipline and punctuality, said out of the 51 posts of locomotive driver, 11 were vacant.

The function was organised to flag off a 1400 HP diesel electric locomotive whose defects were rectified and key components re-conditioned by the port's heavy workshop. Commending the initiative Mr. Suresh said the work and periodic overhauling internally, at a cost of Rs.55 lakh, meant savings of at least Rs.45 lakh. Two government undertakings had quoted Rs.1 crore and Rs.1.5 crore for the work.

Truck cleaning centre

On Sunday, an automatic cleaning centre for trucks transporting coal was opened at the port. ChPT chief mechanical engineering (in-charge) C. Sundaresan said it was fitted with infrared sensors and established at a cost of Rs.6 lakh. It took about 23 seconds and 115 litres of water for cleaning a truck. The facility had been set up as part of the pollution control measures.

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