A state-of-the-art Wagon POH (Periodic Over Haul) workshop, which will provide employment to 300 workers besides facilitating repair of 200 wagons a month, is expected to start functioning at Vadlapudi in Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) limits, in about a year’s time.

The project, coming up on a 178-acre land, will have lathe wheel machines, cranes, repair sheds, paint booths and a 16-km loop line within the premises.

The Wagon POH workshop, announced for Visakhapatnam, by the then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu at a cost of ₹213.97 crore, in 2015-16 Railway Budget, will ensure adequate availability of wagons for the Visakhapatnam Port, Gangavaram Port and other industries, many of which are in an expansion mode. It will also reduce the wagon turnaround time and help railways to generate additional revenue.

The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) was entrusted with the execution of the Wagon POH project in 2016. URC Construction Private Limited of Erode in Tamil Nadu has bagged the contract for the project.

“The levelling of the ground has been completed. Some of the structures to be used in construction would be pre-fabricated and some would be made of galvanised material. Orders have already been placed for supply of machinery and equipment,” Chief Project Manager-1 of RVNL, Visakhapatnam, Akshay Saxena told.

“We have already spent ₹15 crore, and during the current year ₹25 crore would be utilised. The maximum expenditure would be on ‘heavy booking’ for procurement of heavy machinery like gantry girders and cranes, which would be installed during the 2018-19 fiscal,” Mr. Saxena said.

“The volume of earthwork is huge and it has been almost completed. The work on foundation is in progress, and once that is completed, columns would be constructed. The workshop, to be equipped with the latest machinery, would be among the top such workshops in the country. We are confident of completing the project ahead of schedule by March 2019,” Mr. Saxena said. “The land at Vadlapudi was purchased by Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) in 1983 and handed over to the railway for setting up of railway facilities, which could be of use to VSP, as the site is adjacent to the railway lines going to the steel plant,” Deputy General Manager G.N. Murthy said.

“Three ‘stabling lines’ are being provided to facilitate the parking of wagons, which are brought for repairs, when there is no space inside the repair sheds,” he added.