The Electric Loco Shed at Lallaguda, Secunderabad, has earned recognition as one of the biggest maintenance facilities for electric locos on Indian Railways. The Loco Shed is home to 200 electric locomotives, undertaking maintenance of the locomotives at specified cycles so as to keep the engines in fine fettle. The Loco Shed, which was inaugurated on 6th September, 1995, has finished 20 years of efficient service to keep the wheels of Indian Railways moving safe and secure.
A guided Media Tour of the Electric Loco Shed, Lallaguda, Secunderabad was held today i.e., 8thDecember, 2015 to showcase the rigorous system of maintenance of Electric Locomotives which run the passenger and goods services, particularly those originating on South Central Railway. The Shed handles 200 state-of-the-art three phase Electric Locomotives with an elaborate process of maintenance that goes to keep these Locomotives in very fit condition.
The Electric Loco shed carries out preventive maintenance schedules of two types- minor and major. The minor schedules are carried out every 90 days for the latest 3-phase locos which are maintained here. The major schedule involves complete overhauling of the locos and is done at intervals of 1.5 years.
The process of loco maintenance commences, once a loco is taken into the shed for the work. The locomotive undergoes evaluation to identify the maintenance requirements of the various machinery parts. Basing on the requirements, different shop floors are involved to thoroughly undertake a check, repair, replace parts and check performance. The evaluation covers the entire locomotive including the wheels, traction motors, pantograph, electronic control system, etc. A trained workforce of around 700 personnel is employed in the maintenance work at Electric Loco Shed.
Electric Locomotives are used for hauling passenger/goods trains. Electric locomotives used in Indian Railways employ a range of horse power from 3640 HP to 6120 HP. These locos run with speeds ranging from 130-160 KMPH for passenger trains and 30-120 KMPH for goods trains. There 944 3-phase locos running on Indian Railways with a horse power of 6120 HP. Of the 5144 electric locomotives running on Indian Railways, 580 locomotives are homed in sheds located at Lallaguda, Kazipet and Vijayawada over South Central Railway. A fourth electric loco shed is under construction at Guntakal.
Shri Ashesh Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Secunderabad Division, Shri K. Thourya, Senior Divisional Electric Engineer, Electric Loco Shed, Lallaguda, and Shri Umashankar Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer, SCR, briefed the media on the functioning of the Electric Loco Shed during the tour.
An RO water plant for meeting the needs of the workforce at the Loco Shed was also inaugurated by Shri Ashesh Agarwal.
