Different divisions of NFR have converted the unprecedented lockdown period into an opportunity to speed up maintenance work ever since passenger trains stopped plying throughout the country. Although freight carrying trains as well as parcel trains are running regularly with essentials items 24 x 7; it provided ample time gaps to take up track and other maintenance work.
Undertaking such work is difficult due to very heavy movement of trains in normal time, and it requires traffic blocks or mega blocks by stopping movements of all trains to do such work.Since the lockdown started from 25th March, the Engineering department of NFR took the opportunity to undertake various works like unloading of ballast in different locations of track for ensuring adequate availability of ballast for safer train movement,replacement of old rail panels by new rails, USFD testing which is done to detect invisible rail fractures, full utilization of track machines for track tamping and various other works etc.
Good progress could be achieved despite the works being carried out with the minimum number of staff, maintaining all norms of social distancing,sanitization of workplaces etc.It was found that emphasis given on maintenance of assets lead to substantial increase in the average speed of freight carrying trains due to increase in asset reliability and decrease in consequent failures within NFR during the month of May, 2020 in comparison to May, 2019 In NFR area the average speed increased by 58% over the same period of last year.
Moreover, this increase in average speed is found to much better than some of the major zones of Indian Railways.All these works were done despite an increase in the movement of parcel trains and freight trains during the lockdown period for carrying essential commodities and starting of the Shramik Special Trains from 1st May onward followed by other special trains.It can be mentioned here that more than 1300 freight carrying and more than 600parcel trains movements were done by NFR during the lock-down period upto May 31st to ensure that there is no scarcity of essential items within its jurisdiction.
However, to reduce the possibility of spreading the Corona virus amongst officials, only skeletal staffs from the essential categories that are directly connected with train operations were on their job at field.
