Centre of Excellence, a state-of-the-art maintenance facility for Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) air brake system was inaugurated at Perambur Carriage Works recently.

According to sources from Railways, Southern Railway General Manager R K Kulshreshta inaugurated the maintenance facility during his annual inspection to the workshop and also gave an cash award of Rs 50,000 to the centre in recognition of good work being done by them.

Perambur Carriage Works has been maintaining LHB coaches of Southern Railways for the past seven years. Railway Board had advised to identify key areas for development as Centre of Excellence.

Owing to the increasing trend of LHB coaches holding in Indian Railways, it was felt to develop an indigenous overhauling facility to maintain airbrake system of LHB coaches and Centre of Excellence in Carriage Works, Perambur was taken as a pilot project.

With the establishment of this facility, it not only scales down the dependency on OEM but also improves the sustainability in maintenance of airbrake system of LHB coaches.

Perambur Carriage works has developed all the gadgets and test stands in-house which are required for the overhauling and testing of air brake components and valves.

The Centre of Excellence will focus on overhauling of centrifugal air strainer/filter, check valve, emergency brake accelerator, valve,  BP/FP hose coupling, brake cylinder, wheel sliding protection, brake indicator and others.

This facility will result in considerable reduction in maintenance cost (Rs 70 lakh approximately) of one coach during its life time.

It is interesting to note that attention to the air brake system of the LHB coaches plays a vital role in safe operation of coaches.