NFR installing “Automatic Coach Washing Plant” at many locations including Silchar to promote water conservation

Shortage of underground water is becoming a serious issue in our country. Due to random lifting of water for domestic and industrial consumption, water tables in most part of our country are going downward causing serious problem for the society. To overcome this problem there is need to reduce the use of water apart from recycling of the used water. Indian Railways has taken various initiatives in this regard, which includes Rain Water Harvesting, Water Recycling Plant, and Mechanised Coach Cleaning etc. All these initiatives will lead to enormous savings in consumption of water which is required for operations of trains.

As part of the initiative, Automatic Coach Washing Plants are being installed in various pit lines and depots in NFR areas. Installations of Automatic Coach Washing Plants are in progress in various locations like Katihar, New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri(DEMU), Alipurduar, Naharlagun, Dibrugarh, Silchar and Agartala. Once completed, reduction of water consumption will be from 10000 lts to 6000 lts per train rake. Moreover 75% to 80% of water used can also be recycled for further use.

The Automatic Coach Washing Plant is a multistage external cleaning system for coaches/trains, by using high pressure water jet, horizontal and vertical rotating nylon combination brushes. It completes exterior cleaning of the coaches in a rake while being placed in the pit line for maintenance.

The main advantages of this system are:
1. Automatic Coach Washing system is very much Eco-friendly because it consume less water, less electricity and less chemical (soap) for cleaning.
2. The requirement of water and other consumables are much lesser in comparison to the conventional washing system.
3. Minimal electrical energy, manpower and maintenance are required for operating the system.
4. The external cleaning activity of a train which requires lots of manpower can be done away with this system.
5. Excellent quality external cleaning of a full train rake consisting 24 coaches can be completed within a time period of 10 – 15 minutes while the train is placed for maintenance checking at pit line.
6. Automatic Coach Washing Plant is also capable to clean and dis-infect the area of a coach below the toilet which is otherwise not cleaned manually.
7. Water used for cleaning can be re-used by re-cycling through “Effluent Treatment Plant”. Thus helps in conservation of water.
8. The entire system is user friendly, sturdy, easy to maintain and economical.
9. Additional features like under gear and roof cleaning are also available in this modern washing system.
Apart from being Eco friendly, automatic cleaning and disinfection of coaches with minimum human interface will be very useful post COVID pandemic scenario.