Loco pilots to get AC comfort, air-conditioned diesel locomotives.

Loco pilots of Southern Railway can soon look forward to working in the comfort of air-conditioned diesel locomotives.

For the first time, Southern Railway will put into operation new air-conditioned ‘EMD’ type diesel engines with dual cabins to haul long distance mail, express and superfast trains.

Four such locos with high horsepower and improved ambience, manufactured by the Varanasi-based Diesel Loco Works, are housed at Tiruchi Diesel Loco Shed.

The Tiruchi shed is the first in South India to house air-conditioned EMD locos.

The swanky locos would be put into operation upon obtaining clearance from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS).

A trial run of the four locos with wider cabin and ergonomically designed seats was successfully done on the Tiruchi – Dindigul and Dindigul Erode broad gauge sections recently. Orientation programmes are being conducted for loco pilots at Tiruchi, Erode, Madurai and Ernakulam for piloting the new engines.

Each of these locos has been fitted with a 1.5-tonne AC unit in the cabin that is also equipped with a couple of Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display – one each for the Loco Pilot and the Assistant Loco Pilot. The TFT display system would enable the Loco Pilot and the Assistant Loco Pilot to clearly view the performance of the engine and its various parameters on monitors installed right in front of their seats.