Egmore railway yard to get new stabling track soon

The length has been stipulated for the stabling track as 600 metres because all major trains have 24 coaches. The Railway Board has recently stipulated the same length for all platforms, keeping in view that even local trains might be of this length in future, according to officials. 

The additional stabling track will enable the yard to have one additional track to clean and water trains which terminate at Egmore. The yard currently has 12 tracks occupied by trains which reach Egmore in the morning. After passengers disembark, the rake is moved to the yard for cleaning and watering. But shortage of space has resulted in such trains being parked as far as Chenglepet Junction, 50 kilometres away. 

While the Chennai – Kacheguda Express and Tiruvananthapuram – Howrah Express are parked at Chenglepet, other trains are parked at Pallavaram, St Thomas Mount and other suburban stations which have spare tracks. In addition to up and down lines for the Tambaram – Beach EMUs (Electrical Multiple Units), another pair of up and down lines help express trains from various destinations reach Chennai Egmore. 

Senior officials said, “Space is not an issue at all as other stations are more than willing to clean and water trains. When a train cleaned at Rameswaram reaches Egmore, it is not an issue at all.” But what officials forget is the additional fuel used to take the empty rakes to far away stations and then bring them back to Egmore. 

For example, the Kachiguda-Chennai Express reaches Egmore in the morning and is taken to Chenglepet for cleaning. Later, it is brought back to Egmore at about 3.30 pm resulting in fuel consumption for 100 kilometres (up and down), sources point out.