The new coaching complex at Tatanagar station on Sunday. Picture by Animesh Sengupta

Proper maintenance of long distance mail, express and local trains will soon be reality at the Tatanagar railway station.

The railway authorities have set a tentative July deadline for commissioning the Rs 20 crore state-of-the-art “coaching complex” or washing line as it is known at Tatanagar. The complex is under construction at the Kharagpur-end of Tatanagar railway station.

The complex will be fully equipped with latest equipment to undertake necessary maintenance of 26 coaches at a time. Presently, the washing line can accommodate only 20 coaches.

“Work is going on at a fast pace to meet the deadline. The complex will ensure proper maintenance of all mail, express and passenger trains originating and terminating at Tatanagar. It is an ambitious project which will be first of its kind in the state and the Chakradharpur division,” said complex in-charge Bimal Kanti Ray.

In the absence of a coaching complex, Tatanagar station was missing out on catering to new trains. “Once the complex is completed, we can bargain for more trains from the Railway Board that will originate from Tatanagar,” said a senior official of Chakradharpur railway division. He added that as part of the ongoing expansion programme of Tata Steel and several other industrial units, modernisation has become all the more important.

He went on to say that the coaching complex will help in introducing more trains from Tatanagar, as demanded by various trade and industry organisation.

Officials of the coaching complex admitted the fact that at present, proper maintenance of trains was not possible. The washing line at Tatanagar now can accommodate only two trains for maintenance, while water supply to mail and express trains was insufficient.

The engineering department, which is executing the project, started construction work in 2007. However, work stopped midway on several occasions due to various reasons.

Over half-a-dozen long distance mail and express trains originate from Tatanagar, including Tata-Jammu Tawi Express, Tata-Alleppy Express, Tata-Chapra Link Express, Tata-Amritsar Jallianwallah Bagh Express, Tata-Yeshwantpur Express and Tata-Patna South Bihar Express. Some of the passenger train include Tata-Nagpur, Tata-Kharagpur, Tata-Gua, Tata-Barbil, Tata-Asansol and Tata-Badampahar.

Officials said that apart from washing, necessary mechanical maintenance of coaches would also be done at the new coaching complex.