HYDERABAD: With around 750 passenger train services suspended, South Central Railway (
SCR
) is having a hard time stabling trains at railway yards in the zone.
“It is for the first time that these many trains have stopped and hence we are struggling to find places to park these trains. Even though all major stations have a huge yard, all areas are flooded with empty rakes,” an SCR official told TOI. “We don’t have large spaces in railway vicinities for maintaining them,” he added.
According to officials, the zone has coach maintenance depots and railway yards at
Secunderabad
, Hyderabad, Kacheguda, Lingampally, Kazipet, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Guntakal.
“These depots can provide stabling for limited trains while most stations do not have enough space to accommodate trains. With freight trains still running, it is also important to keep the tracks clear,” the official added. Since only goods’ trains are running, most station’s tracks are empty and they are parking empty rakes there, inform officials.
With no public entry allowed on railway station premises, Railway Protection Force (RPF) has also increased surveillance at the stations and yards as hundreds of trains are parked there. A huge number of rakes from the zone are also scattered in different parts across the country, and officials are also focusing on bringing back the stopped trains to their origin depots.
“Each rake has around 20-24 coaches and occupies a lot space. Security is tightened near unattended rakes to avoid theft and malpractices,” head constable, RPF, Secunderabad railway station told TOI.