Shoranur: The Railways has decided to postpone the periodical overhauling (POH) of coaches by three months in order to facilitate quick resumption of train services. POH is carried out every 18 months. Officials feel that as the trains have been lying idle over the last 40 days, a delay in POH will not raise safety concerns.
However, intermediate overhauling (IOH) of coaches done every nine months will take place and the work has started at the sheds under the Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram railway divisions. Though the divisions have facilities to carry out IOH, coaches have to be taken to Chennai for POH.
Most of the coaches are now scheduled for either IOH or POH but both cannot be done at a time. Moreover, it is not practical to take all the coaches needing maintenance in Kerala to Chennai for the work as it would affect the resumption of train services.
While Shoranur and Mangaluru in Palakkad division can carry out IOH, the facility is available at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochu Veli, Ernakulam, and Nagercoil under Thiruvananthapuram division of the Railways.
