A 16-car ‘Vande Bharat’ train arriving at the Golden Rock Railway Workshop in Tiruchi for overhaul. | Photo credit: Special arrangement
The more than 90-year-old Golden Rock Railway Workshop at Ponmalai in Tiruchi is set to overhaul modern Vande Bharat train cars for the first time at its sprawling premises.
One rake consisting of 16 Vande Bharat coaches arrived on Monday (December 1, 2025) for a complete overhaul at this UK workshop. Coaches of the Vande Bharat train sent for overhaul were in service on the Chennai – Mysuru broad gauge section.
Around 250 workshop technicians belonging to the mechanical and electrical wings would carry out this detailed exercise and carefully examine each car. It is the first time ever that Golden Rock Railway Workshop is to carry out overhaul of Vande Bharat coaches, workshop authorities told The Hindu on Tuesday (December 2).
The workshop will carry out an overhaul of SS-2 cars (Shop Schedule), which is carried out every three years. The technical staff of the workshop have already visited railway workshops at Matunga in Mumbai, Ajmer in Rajasthan and Charbagh in Lucknow to get first-hand experience, experience and training in maintenance of Vande Bharat wagons before conducting the exercise.
The New Delhi Railway Board has appointed the Golden Rock Railway Workshop at Tiruchi to carry out the SS-I (Shop Schedule) and other major plans of the Vande Bharat trainsets.
Vande Bharat trains are semi-high speed services that are operated by the railways on various sections across the railway network, including some sections in the Southern Railway zone. The original first Vande Bharat train was shut down in February 2019 on the New Delhi – Varanasi route.
Vande Bharat buses are equipped with modern facilities such as automatic doors, GPS-based audio visual passenger information system, comfortable seating and intelligent braking system that enables better acceleration and deceleration. The executive class of these buses have swivel chairs inside. Due to faster travel time, Vande Bharat trains are well liked.
The workshop management said that the overhaul includes, among other things, checking the chassis, providing attention to the seats, checking the wheels, bearings and floor, attention to the electrical equipment and roof air conditioners, vinyl wraps on the relevant parts.
New chassis would be replaced by existing ones whenever needed. As part of the overhaul, a new coat of paint will be applied to the exterior and interior of the cars. The plan is to complete the overhaul of Vande Bharat buses within 45 days, authorities said.
Published – 02 Dec 2025 14:58 IST
