The Railway Board, New Delhi, has placed an order with the Golden Rock Railway Workshop at Tiruchi for 280 state-of-the-art BTPN M1 wagons to transport petroleum products.
The production of BTPN wagons has commenced at the over 90-year-old British-built workshop, which is all set to complete the first rake of 50 wagons soon.
The manufacture of the BTPN wagons marks another significant milestone in the chequered history of the workshop, which is simultaneously engaged in multiple activities including periodic overhaul of diesel locomotives and broad gauge passenger coaches, periodic overhaul of steam locomotives being operated in the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and production of other types of wagons besides converting old conventional passenger coaches into automobile carriers.
Workshop authorities said that the manufacture of BTPN wagons was taken after getting approval from the Lucknow-based Research Designs and Standard Organisation of the Indian Railways for a prototype wagon. Forty-six out of the 50 BTPN wagons had been manufactured so far and the first rake was scheduled to be flagged off soon.
The BTPN wagon had been designed with modern specifications with an axle load of 20.32 tonnes, a gross weight of 81.28 tonnes and a carrying capacity of 54.28 tonnes. The wagons were fitted with CASNUB 22 RFT bogies, centre buffer couplers and twin-pipe air brakes to ensure strength, durability and operational safety.
Terming the manufacture of the new wagons within a short period of time as a good achievement, the authorities said technical personnel attached to the wagon assembly shop, wagon component shop and wagon bogie shop were involved in its manufacture. The new wagons would be sent to the Indian Railways to be used to transport petroleum products.
A key stage of production was the precise calibration of tank barrels which was completed in late August. The calibration was conducted by the Central Tank Wagon Calibration Committee to ensure accuracy in petroleum loading, full utilisation of carrying capacity and compliance with statutory norms.
The workshop with a proven track record of technical excellence, timely execution and innovative manufacturing process had established itself as a centre of excellence in wagon production contributing to Indian Railway freight operations, the authorities further said.
