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भारत सरकार,
रे ल मंत्रालय
Government of India
Ministry of Railways

Report on
Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG
coaches (Part-I)
IRCAMTECH.M.GWL.NMG-I
July’ 2021

CENTRE FOR ADVANCED MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY

Maharajpur, Gwalior – 474005

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 1 of 49

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 2 of 49
 Contents
PREFACE ....................................................................................................................................... 5
ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 6
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................... 7
2. Methodology adopted ............................................................................................................. 9
3. Brief on conversion of ICF Coaches into NMG................................................................... 9
3.1. Conversion process of NMG coaches. .................................................................... 10
3.2. Standardisation of drawings for NMG conversion.................................................. 10
3.3. Development of NMGH coached with speed potential of 110 Kmph .................. 11
4. Service life of NMG Coaches -Post conversion ............................................................... 11
5. Review of POH and IOH schedule stipulations and possibility of enhancing period
between POH and IOH schedules...................................................................................... 13
5.1. Zonal Railways feedback on maintenance issues of NMG coaches .................. 14
6. Review of Rly Board’s guidelines on Operation and Maintenance of NMG rakes ...... 15
6.1. Operation of NMG rakes-RB letter No. 91/M(C)/650/1 dated 10.09.1996. ........ 15
6.2. Policy Circular No. 6 (29.05.2000) -Revised maintenance pattern of NMG
Rakes ............................................................................................................................ 16
6.3. Maintenance Pattern of NMG -Schedule ‘C’ attention (25.09.07) ....................... 17
6.4. Movement of off POH/fresh converted NMG coaches (10.2.2010)..................... 18
6.5. Revised guidelines on maintenance pattern of NMG Rakes (27.08.2018) ........ 19
6.6. Formation of Premium NMG Rakes on trial for 6 months 04.11.2020 ................ 22
7. Performance of Trial of Premium NMG Rakes for 6M Phase-I ...................................... 22
7.1. Zonal Railways reports on the Phase-I trial of Premium NMG Rakes ................ 23
7.2. Depot wise performance on NMG Rakes is as under. .......................................... 24
7.3. Analysis of data received from CRIS CMM/FOIS .................................................. 27
7.4. Summary of experience gained by Phase-I of the NMG Premium trial .............. 28
8. Possibility of Reduction in Rake examination time .......................................................... 29
9. List of all Recommendations ............................................................................................... 29
9.1. Service life of NMG coaches ..................................................................................... 29
9.2. Service life of NMGH coaches .................................................................................. 29
9.3. POH/IOH Periodicity ................................................................................................... 30
9.4. Criteria of POH of old design of NMG Coaches ..................................................... 30
9.5. Accelerated Plan to replace old design of NMG coaches by NMGH .................. 30
9.6. Nomination of Base Depot for NMG Coaches ........................................................ 30
9.7. Supervision of Loading and unloading to avoid damage ...................................... 31
9.8. Reduction in Rake examination time........................................................................ 31

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 3 of 49

Annexure- I ................................................................................................................................... 32
Annexure- II .................................................................................................................................. 33
Annexure- III ................................................................................................................................. 34
Annexure- IV................................................................................................................................. 35
Annexure- V .................................................................................................................................. 36
Annexure- VI................................................................................................................................. 37
Annexure- VII................................................................................................................................ 39
List of references ......................................................................................................................... 48
Write to Us .................................................................................................................................... 49

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 4 of 49

 PREFACE

Railway Board vide letter No. 2010/M(C)/650/2/NMG dated 07.08.2020 advised

CAMTECH to review the extant maintenance guidelines and to issue fresh guidelines
increasing present stipulations of examinations with detailed IOH and POH schedules
for NMGs. RDSO was also advised to standardize NMG conversion drawings with
speed potential of 110 KMPH.

Further, Railway Board vide its letter No. 2010/M(C)/650/2/NMG dated 13.10.2020
forwarded Traffic Directorate’s proposal to CAMTECH to examine enhancing BPC
validity period for NMG CC rakes from 3500 kms/10 days to 7500 kms/35 days,
whichever is earlier and possibility of reduction in examination time of NMG rakes.

Subsequently, Railway Board vide letter no. 2010/M(C)/650/2/NMG dated 04.11.2020

advised Zonal Railways to conduct 6 months trial of forming and running of NMG
Premium Rakes with examination period extended upto 6000 Km or 15 days
whichever is earlier and submit report to CAMTECH to finalise revised guidelines for
regular operation of NMGs.

Six months Trial of Phase-I (Nov’2020-May’2021) monitored through detailed trial

scheme issued by CAMTECH. CRIS was also requested to integrate CMM and FOIS
to analyse the performance of NMG Rakes. Data furnished by CRIS during Phase-I of
integration between CMM and FOIS has been analysed. Detailed feedback on
changes and refinements has been given to CRIS to make a useful analysis of the
data. The changes are likely to take some more time. Detailed analysis of the data
furnished by CRIS will be submitted in subsequent reports.

Analysis of FOIS data on NMG indicates that out of total 289 nos of NMG Rake
examinations done, only 9.34% (27 Nos) Rake offered for NMG Premium examination.
All of the NMG Rakes were run without monitoring 6000 KM limit or 15 days BPC
validity period for Premium NMG Rakes or 7 days BPC validity limit for End to End
Rakes. Zonal Railways have reported that since start of the trial, almost all NMG
Coaches are running monthly schedule overdue and many NMG Coaches are running
quarterly schedule overdue.

The trial was further extended by Railway Board vide letter no 2010/M(C)/650/2/NMG
dated 31.05.2021 for next 3 months. Revised trial scheme for Phase-II trial along with
a JPO to be signed between Mechanical and Operating departments has been issued
to Zonal Railways to report performance. CRIS is also being followed up to complete
the integration of CMM and FOIS.

This report (Part-I) is being submitted as a part of the study to finalise IOH and POH
periodicity of NMG Coaches based on feedback given by Zonal Railways. Report on
Phase-II trial with detailed analysis of data on NMG rakes furnished by CRIS through
FOIS and CMM will be submitted later as CRIS is still working on the integration of
FOIS and CMM.

Date: 15.07.2021 (Jitendra Singh)

Place: Lucknow Principal Executive Director
CAMTECH / Gwalior

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 ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviation Description
NMG New Modified Goods (max speed 75 kmph)
NMGH New Modified Goods -Higher speed (max speed 110kmph)
DV Distributed Valve
BPC Brake Power Certificate
POH Periodic Over Haul
IOH Intermediate Over Haul
OCV Other Coaching Vehicles
PCV Passenger Coaching Vehicles
ICF Integral Coach Factory, Chennai
RCF Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala
MCF Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli
RDSO Research Design and Standard Organisation, Lucknow
BCACBM Bogie Covered Autorake Double Decker Wagon
JUDW Jagadhri Workshop
KGP Kharagpur
UBL Hubli
MYS Mysuru
ZR Zonal Railway
SR Southern Railway
SWR South Western Railway
WR Western Railway
CR Central Railway
SBC KSR Bengaluru

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1. Introduction

Railway Board vide letter No. 2010/M(C)/650/2/NMG dated 07.08.2020

(Annexure-I) advised IRCAMTECH to review the extant maintenance
guidelines for NMG Coaches and issue fresh guidelines increasing present
stipulations of examinations with detailed IOH and POH schedules with the
approval of Railway Board.

In the same letter, Carriage Directorate of RDSO was also advised to analyse
design related issues affecting availability of NMGs, review NMG conversion
drawings presently being followed by Zonal Railways, issue standard drawings
for NMG conversion and upgrade the speed potential upto 110 Kmph.

Later, Railway Board vide letter No 2010/M(C)/650/2/NMG dated 13.10.2020

(Annexure-II) forwarded Traffic Directorate’s proposal to CAMTECH to examine
the feasibility of increasing BPC validity of CC NMG rakes from 3500 Kms/10
Days to 7500 Kms/35 days whichever is earlier and submit draft of fresh
maintenance guidelines with detailed IOH and POH schedules for approval of
Railway Board.

Railway Board vide letter no 2010/M(C)/650/2/NMG dated 04.11.2020

(Annexure-III) advised Zonal Railways to form NMG Premium Rakes to run on
trial for six months with examination period enhanced to 6000 Km or 15 days
whichever is earlier. Zonal Railways were advised to maintain records of
creation of such premium rakes, monitor the performance during 6 months trial
and submit performance of trial to CAMTECH for further submission of report
to Board for modification of maintenance scheme for NMGs for regular
operation.

IRCAMTECH vide letter no IRCAMTECH/M/GWL/NMG dated 26.11.2020

(Annexure-IV) issued detailed trial scheme for monitoring and submit monthly
performance of NMG Premium Rakes for the six-month’s trial to finalise revised
maintenance guidelines. Simultaneously, CRIS was also requested to integrate
CMM and FOIS Modules to capture online data from Zonal Railways and facility
to generate periodical reports on the trial scheme of NMG Premium Rakes
issued by CMATECH.

Data received from CRIS and Zonal Railways on phase-I of the trial indicates
as under-

a) A total of 289 nos of NMG Rakes were offered for all types on rake
examination during the trial period.

b) Only 9.34% (27 Nos) of NMG Premium examination were done on 20

Premium Rakes formed for the trial.

c) 90.66% (262 Nos) ie most of the NMG Rakes were offered for End-to End
examination.

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 d) Surprising no Close Circuit Rake of NMG were running in the system prior
to the trial and not a single NMG rake was offered for Close Circuit Rake
examination. Whereas, Traffic Directorate initiated the proposal to enhance
BPC Validity for CC Rake examination to improve utilisation of NMG
Rakes.

e) All of the NMG Rakes ie Premium and End to End were running during the
trial period without any system of monitoring 6000 KM limit or 15 days BPC
validity period for Premium NMG Rakes or 7 days BPC validity limit for End
to End Rakes.

f) Earlier BPC for NMG Rakes were being issued manually. Attempt were
made to ensure issue of BPC through CMM module only during the trial.
But in many cases, it could not be done as some of the newly converted
NMG Coaches were not available in CMM Database. CRIS is working to
update NMG coaches database with the help of Zonal Railways.

g) Since neither KM limit nor number of days limit since last examination was
monitored during the trial, almost all NMG coaches are running overdue
6000KM/15 days limit for Premium NMG rakes and 7 days limit for End to
End rakes respectively.

h) Due to non-monitoring of NMG rakes over due on number of days or Km

basis since last date of examination, all Coaches are running overdue
schedules ie Schedule ‘A’ and Schedule ‘B’. This being serious safety
violation which may lead to catastrophic failure and accident needs to be
avoided with immediate effect. Railway Board is requested to issue
instructions to Zonal Railways in this regard.

Railway Board vide letter no 2010/M(C)/650/2/NMG dated 31.05.2021

(Annexure-V) extended the trial of NMG Premium Rakes for further 3 months.
To effectively monitor the Phase-II trial, a video conference was organised with
Zonal Railways and revised trial scheme with a JPO to be signed between
Mechanical and Operating departments was sent to Zonal Railways to monitor
and report the performance of Phase-II trial to CAMTECH.

To monitor the trial, CRIS has provided data after first round of integration
between CMM and FOIS. Feedback on this data has been given to CRIS to
further integrate the system to make useful and meaningful analysis of the data.
CRIS is working on this and the process is likely to take some more time.
Therefore, detailed analysis of the data on NMG rakes furnished by CRIS
through FOIS and CMM integration will be submitted in subsequent report after
completion of Phase-II trial.

This report is being submitted as a Part-I of the study to finalise IOH and POH
periodicity of NMG Coaches based upon feedback given by Zonal Railways and
POH workshops. Recommendations in respect of examination pattern will be
submitted after gaining experience during Phase-II trial of NMG Rakes.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 8 of 49

2. Methodology adopted

Following methodology was adopted for collection of data and suggestions from
field units including interactive Webinars and telephonic/Video conferencing as
field visits could not be organised due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

a) Review of extant instructions on the pattern of examination for NMG rakes

issued by Railway Board from time to time.

b) Review of Open Line maintenance activities being carried out and possibility
of enhancing period between the maintenance intervals.

c) Review of POH and IOH schedule stipulations and possibility of enhancing

period between POH and IOH schedules.

d) Zonal Railways were advised to review existing maintenance practices,

provide details of problems being faced in maintenance and operation of
NMG coaches and suggest revised maintenance stipulations to increase
availability of NMG Rakes.

e) Data analysis on NMG rakes movement and kilometres earned between two
examinations through FOIS/CMM.

f) Zonal Railways were also requested to send suggestions on increasing

validity period of CC rakes of NMG from 3500 Kms/10 days to 7500 Kms/35
days and changes for fresh guidelines in IOH and POH schedules as
proposed by Traffic Directorate of Railway Board.

g) Zonal Railways were advised to send monthly performance reports of

premium NMG rakes formed on trial so that modification of maintenance
scheme for NMGs for regular operation may be finalised and report
submitted to Railway Board.

3. Brief on conversion of ICF Coaches into NMG

NMG Coaches were initially converted in 1991 from overaged ICF coaches at
JUDW/NR for transportation of Maruti Vans vide Railway Board letter No.
91/M(C)/650/1 dated 18.07.1991. NMG coaches are fit to run at a maximum
permissible speed of 75 Kmph with a maximum permissible pay load of 9.2
tonnes.

In wake of increasing demand for automobile rakes, Railway Board issued

instructions to convert ICF coaches into NMG vide letter no 91/M(C)/650/1
dated 10.09.2009 against RSP sanction as under.

a. 100 Nos of overaged passenger coaches with life of 25 years with

badly deteriorated interiors, but with relatively sound shell structure
picked up for conversion to NMGs within next three months subject to
following conditions to be converted into NMG for automobile traffic.

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 b. NMG coaches thus converted should be taken up for POH after 2 years
and allowed in service for another 2 years i.e. upto a total service life
of 29 years.

c. Any further extension will require thorough examination of the coach

structure and permission granted only by the concerned CME.

Subsequently ICF Coaches undergoing last POH at the age of 24th years of
service life were permitted for conversion into NMG Coaches in 2017 vide
Railway Board Letter No 2016/M(C)/650/2 pt IV dated 21.02.2017.

Considering accelerated phasing out of ICF coaches with LHB coaches and
increasing requirement of NMG rakes, all ICF (GS, Chair Car, SCN and SLRD)
Coaches with age group of 20 years and above have now been permitted for
conversion into NMG Coaches vide Railway Board Letter No 2010/M(C)/650/2
pt. dated 07.02.2020.

3.1. Conversion process of NMG coaches.

The conversion of NMG coaches is based on NR drawing no. JUDW/Mech-28

developed by JUDW Worksop. It briefly consists of following alteration and
modifications.

a) Complete stripping (mechanical & Electrical) of the coach including removal

of seats & berths, lavatory and all partitions, cutting of body panels, end
panels, end stanchion pillars and fall plate etc.

b) Corrosion repairs in accordance with RDSO/2011/CG/CMI01 and existing

windows and doors area to be dummied/blocked and fully welded, dummy
the fan brackets and all holes on the panel sealed and matched to the panel.

c) Provision of end flap doors and vestibule foot plate arrangement at both
ends, 06 mm thick MS chequered plate on the coach floor and provide
securing handles (12 mm bar) on the body as per drawing.

d) Stencilling to be done on end panels as under:

• Maximum Permissible Carrying Capacity.

• Maximum speed permissible 75 Kmph.
• P.R.O details are stencilled.
• BASE Depot.

3.2. Standardisation of drawings for NMG conversion

Various Zonal Railways like NR, SWR, SER and CR were following their own
drawings and procedures for conversion of ICF coaches into NMG with minor
variations from basic drawings of JUDW. With the recent increase in utilisation
of NMG Coaches, it has resulted into arising of different types of defects and
increased maintenance requirement during open line maintenance. With a view
to standardise the design of NMG conversion and to reduce maintenance

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 10 of 49

 problems, Railway Board vide letter dated 07.08.2020 advised Carriage
Directorate of RDSO to standardize the drawings and procedures for
conversion of ICF coaches into NMGs and upgrade speed potential of NMGs
upto 110 KMPH. Standard drawings for NMG conversion were required to be
finalised by RDSO based on feedback obtained from concerned Zonal
Railways, Workshops and other stake holders and develop a layout to
accommodate Two wheelers, Four wheelers, Tractors and other SUVs.

3.3. Development of NMGH coached with speed potential of 110 Kmph

RDSO vide letter No MC/MV/Maruti dated 24/03/2021 has issued standardised

drawings for conversion vide CMI No. RDSO/CG/M/20001 of March 2021
covering details of the procedure for conversion of a Non-AC ICF design coach
having different shell design like GS, SCN, SDC and SLRD to Automobile
Carrier coach after useful passenger service life of 19-20 years. This design
has been allotted transportation code of NMGH and is suitable for maximum
permissible speed of 110 Kmph.

4. Service life of NMG Coaches -Post conversion

Initially over aged ICF coaches were converted into New Modified Goods
(NMG) Coaches to facilitate transportation of Maruti Vans. The extended life of
converted coaches was fixed as four years and POH periodicity was fixed as
24 months as being followed for other OCVs. (Railway Board letter No.:
91/M(C)/650/1 dated 10.09.1996).

Railway Board vide Letter No.91/M(C)/650/1 dated 10.9.2009 advised that

NMG coaches should be taken up for POH after 2 years and allowed in service
for another 2 years i.e. upto a total service life of 29 years. Any further extension
will require thorough examination of the coach structure and permission granted
only by the concerned CME. With these instructions, total service life of NMG
coaches was permitted beyond 29 years subject to permission of CME if
condition of coach considered acceptable for extension up to next POH cycle.

Revised instructions on service life of ICF Design OCVs converted from PCVs
were issued by Railway Board vide letter No. 2010/M(C)/650/2 dated
20.12.2010 as under.

Service life for various categories of OCVs, converted from PCVs nearing
the end of their prescribed codal life of 25 years for
Commercial/Departmental use of OCVs mainly includes:

(i) NMG for automobile movement

(ii) ART/ARME for accident relief
(iii) Camping coaches with track machines etc.
(iv) Inspection carriages
(v) Training cars/Observation cars
(vi) Material vans etc.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 11 of 49

 In supersession to all previous guidelines on the subject, a service life of
upto 10 years post such conversion or a total life of 35 years whichever
is less, be uniformly applied to all such light utilization OCVs converted
from PCV. This shall however be subject to a detailed examination, from
the stand point of corrosion and structural strength, during POH at an
interval of 2 years and extension upto the next POH cycle, till service life
prescribed as above is attained.

From the above, it may be seen that an NMG coaches converted at the age of
25 years were initially extended for service life upto four years with one post
conversion POH cycle at interval of 2 years i.e. at the age of 27 years. Later in
2009, further conditional extension was permitted with thorough examination of
the coach structure and permission granted only by the concerned CME.
Subsequently in 2010, the service life of NMG coaches was uniformly extended
upto 35 years or 10 years post conversion for all OCVs.

It may be noted that since NMG coaches were meant to be used for light load
and low utilisation services, no major design change or modification to NMG
design was incorporated till now. The utilisation of NMG rakes after COVID-19
lockdown has gone up and it is further going to increase as anticipated from
traffic projections. With the increased utilisation of NMG coaches, there is need
to critically examine, revise maintenance pattern and review service life
presently stipulated for NMG coaches which was initially based on the
presumptions of low utilsation services.

According to the present service life stipulations, an NMG coach converted at

25 years of age will remain in service for next 10 years i.e. upto a total service
life of 35 years. Whereas a coach converted at the age of 20 years will remain
in service only for next 10 years i.e. upto a total life of 30 years. As there is
progressive deterioration in structural strength of ICF Coach Shell due to
progressive corrosion and repairs of corroded area by welding, the overall
strength of ICF coach over its service life gets reduced depending upon length
of service and in every POH repair cycle. Thus, a NMG coach converted at the
age of 25 years having weaker shell structure will remain in longer service for
35 years as against a coach converted at the age of 20 years with comparatively
better structural strength and it will remain in service only upto 30 years of age.

Recommendations:

(i) Since NMG Stock is converted from nearly outlived PCVs, its
structural strength at Super structure and Underframe members
gradually loses strength with the passage of service life. The safety
and reliability of such coaches is compromised to great extent at
later age due to cyclic stresses and corrosion. It is recommended to
fix the service life of NMG Caches to 30 years maximum instead of
35 years as against specified in Railway Board letter dated 2010.

(ii) Further since newly developed NMGH coaches will be running at

higher speed of 110 Kmph, the rate of deterioration in these coaches
will also be higher. Therefore, post conversion life of NMGH coaches

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 12 of 49

 is also recommended for 10 years Maximum or 30 years from built
year.

5. Review of POH and IOH schedule stipulations and possibility of

enhancing period between POH and IOH schedules

The POH process of NMG was studied in detail in consultation with POH
Workshops. While reviewing the POH periodicity, the service life of coach shell
and its condition needs to be critically examined. Three Webinars were
conducted on 26.02.2021, 02.03.2021 and 09.03.2021 with POH Workshops
involved in conversion and POH on NMG coaches ie Jagadari/NR,
Alambagh/NR, Gorakhpur/NER, Kharagpur/SER, Matunga/CR, Hubbli/ SWR
and Perambur/SR.

The current guidelines for POH at 24 months and IOH periodicity at one year
interval was deliberated in details with POH Workshops on possibility of
extending POH and IOH intervals for NMG Coaches. Workshop’s suggestion
and concerns are discussed as under.

As per Railway Board letter No. 2004/M(C)/137/8 dated 29.08.08, Roller

Bearings must be given attention during POH. As per RDSO letter no.
M&C/NDT/1/8 dated 21.06.2007, periodicity of UST of axles of ICF coaches is
once in a year. In case POH periodicity of NMG coaches is enhanced from
present level then the periodicity of Axle and bearing examination will exceed
the Roller bearing and UST examination limit which has direct adverse bearing
on safety and reliability of NMG Coaches. Thus it is not recommended to extend
the POH and IOH periodicity from present stipulations.

Workshops have pointed that the incoming condition of NMG coaches is found
to have heavy corrosion requiring much higher inputs on material and
manpower. Heavy corrosion is observed on Head stock, Sole bar, Body pillar,
Body Panels and other structural members which have direct bearing on the
structural strength of shell of NMG Coaches. With the enhancement of duration
between POH periodicity, corrosion of NMG coaches will accelerate and will
have adverse impact on the strength of load bearing and Shell strengthening
members leading to unsafe running condition. Moreover, restoring a NMG
coach from heavily corroded shell structure involves excessive time for repair,
higher manpower and higher cost of material leading to high downtime in
workshops and uneconomical cost of repair.

Analysis of data from Jagadari Workshop indicates heavy corrosion repairs on

NMG coaches. The major repair work includes change of Sole bar, change of
Head stock one side or both sides, Body pillars, Body patches, trough floor
repair and end panel repairs. Average time for corrosion repair of 25 coaches
is 1110 Man-hours which is very high as compare to the normal POH man-hrs
of an ICF Coach which is in the range of 200-400 Man-hrs. The POH repair
Man-hrs of NMG coach is approaching or exceeding the cost of conversion of
newly converted NMG Coach which is in the range of 1200 to 1600 Man-hrs.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 13 of 49

 Workshops also suggested that criteria for POH of NMG coaches should be
based on extent of corrosion repairs. NMG coaches having more than 400 Man-
hrs of repair content are financially uneconomical and drain on Worksop’s POH
capacity. Heavily corroded NMG Coaches should be considered for
condemnation as large no ICF coaches with relatively better structural strength
and lesser arising of corrosion repairs in subsequent POH attention with high
speed (NMGH) are being converted now.

Now with the development of NMGH coaches with 46% higher speed then
NMG, POH capacity may be better utilised for NMGH conversion and phase
out NMG coaches having lower speed potential, requiring higher maintenance
inputs both in open line and POH Workshops. This is the most cost-effective
solution as ICF design of Coaches are being phased out from passenger
services on safety considerations and surplus ICF Coaches are available for
NMG Conversion.

Workshops have also pointed out that extent of corrosion repair on NMG
Coaches increases with the age of the Coach. With the increased utilisation of
NMG coaches, these are running at par with PCVs. In view of the fact that ICF
Coaches have been converted into NMG coaches at the end of Codal life after
completion of useful service life in passenger services, it is recommended that
IOH and POH schedule periodicity for NMG Coaches may be continued as 12
months and 24 Months interval respectively.

5.1. Zonal Railways feedback on maintenance issues of NMG coaches

Feedback and suggestions regarding performance, operation and maintenance

of NMG coaches as asked form Zonal Railways vide CAMTECH letter no.
IRCAMTECH/M/GWL/NMG dated 14.08.2020, 14.10.2020, 26.11.2020 were
discussed through Video conferences. Summarised feedback received from
Zonal Railways is enclosed at Annexure-VI. Perusal of maintenance related
issues brought out by Zonal Railways indicates that NMG Coaches presently
running require intensive repairs during each examination on Pit line. Therefore,
NMG coaches must be examined as per ICF maintenance manual on Pit line
so that all defects and damages being observed are attended by Coaching
depots. It is also necessary that Schedule ‘A’ and Schedule ‘B’ are strictly
followed to keep NMG coaches in good fettle.

However, above maintenance related issues have been addressed by Carriage

Directorate, RDSO while developing the prototype of NMGH coach and
finalising the conversion drawings after taking feedback from Railways and
stake holders.

Recommendations:

(i) IOH and POH periodicity of NMG coaches may be continued with 12
Months for IOH and 24 Months for POH.

(ii) Extent of corrosion repairs on NMG coaches during POH in

workshops should be the major guiding criteria to decide its repair

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 14 of 49

 and extension till next POH cycle. NMG Coaches having heavy
corrosion and high repair content over 400 Man-hrs should be
critically examined and considered for condemnation as undertaking
such heavy corrosion repair work is uneconomical and workshop’s
precious manpower, material and repair capacity can be utilised for
more gainful activities such as conversion of surplus ICF Coaches
into high speed NMGH coaches.

(iii) Accelerated conversion of surplus ICF coaches into NMGH Coaches

and phasing out of old NMG coaches may be carried out as NMGH
coaches have 47% higher speed potential and lower maintenance
requirement by way of standardised and improved design of
conversion involving lesser maintenance time, cost, reliable service
and better turnaround of NMGH rakes.

6. Review of Rly Board’s guidelines on Operation and Maintenance of NMG

rakes

Guidelines on Operation and Maintenance schedules of NMG Coaches as

reviewed by Railway Board from time to time are discussed below.

6.1. Operation of NMG rakes-RB letter No. 91/M(C)/650/1 dated 10.09.1996.

Following guidelines were initially issued by Railway Board for operation and
maintenance of NMG Rakes in 1996.

(i) Extended life of NMG coaches has been fixed as 4 years.

(ii) POH periodicity to be followed as 2 years similar to other OCVs.
(iii)Routine open line maintenance to be carried out at next coaching depot
on the operating circuit.
(iv) Each NMG coach should be based at any convenient coaching depot for
routine maintenance.
(v) NMG is treated as OCV and should conform to Pattern of examination
being followed for OCV.

The maintenance of NMG rakes was prescribed to be done at nominated

Coaching Depots. The first basic requirement of coaching maintenance is
to nominate a Base depot for each PCV/OCV. This is yet to be done by
Zonal Railways in the case of NMG coaches. Nominated Coaching Depots
are the required to plan for material and scheduled maintenance, maintain
maintenance records and upload defect analysis on CRIS CMM module.

Extant instructions contained in CAMTECH maintenance manual for ICF

Coaches para 111a (i) & (ii), are reproduced below.

111 MAINTENANCE PRACTICES IN OPEN LINE DEPOTS

111a Nomination of a Depot

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 15 of 49

 i) All passenger coaching vehicles (PCVs), other coaching vehicles
(OCVs), owned by individual railways should be allotted a base depot for
primary maintenance and a base workshop for periodical overhaul and
special repairs by the Chief Mechanical Engineer/Chief Operation
Manager of the Railway.

ii) The base depot to which the coaches are allotted will be responsible
for their maintenance. It will also be responsible for the secondary
maintenance of the coaches as prescribed by the Railway.

Since NMG coaches are not being maintained on ownership basis, advance
planning of material and carrying out periodic maintenance schedules ie
schedule ‘A’, ‘B’, and IOH is lacking.

Availability of maintenance spares and consumables can only be planned if

NMG coaches allotted to Base Depot. This will also help in monitoring
performance of NMG coaches. Base depot is also required to maintain records
of schedule maintenance for assessing the performance of NMG coaches and
quality of maintenance. Analysis of repeated defects is also not possible in
absence of nominated base depot for NMG coaches.

Recommendations:

(i) Since NMG coaches are classified as OCV, each NMG coach should
be based at any convenient coaching depot for routine maintenance
on ownership basis. This will help in monitoring performance of
NMG Coaches and corrective action can be taken for repeated type
of defects noticed during Pit Line examination.

(ii) Zonal Railways to ensure that records of maintenance of NMG

coaches are maintained on CRIS CMM/FOIS modules similar to ICF
Coaches so that performance of NMG coaches can be analysed over
a period and corrective actions taken to improve the performance.
(CRIS is working to integrate CMM/FOIS modules and generate
periodical reports on performance of NMG Coaches).

6.2. Policy Circular No. 6 (29.05.2000) -Revised maintenance pattern of NMG

Rakes

Policy Circular No. 6 dated 29.05.2000 on revised maintenance pattern of NMG

rakes was issued by Railway board vide letter No. 91/M(C)/650/1 dated
29.05.2000 as under.

(i) NMG rakes may run on goods pattern with intensive examination at both
the ends.

(ii) Follow other conditions for enroute detention in case of stabling at road
side stations.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 16 of 49

 (iii) In case of close circuit rakes, NMG may be run upto 2500 km on round
trip basis.

(iv) Close circuit rake must be clearly identified and should have a nominated
base depot having adequate trained staff and spares.

(v) Each NMG should be marked with the nominated POH workshop and
return date.

(vi) The maintenance schedules of NMG will continue to be on coaching

pattern to be carried out by base depot.

(vii) NMG coaches are fit for only 75 kmph with maximum payload fixed at
9.2 tonnes.

(viii) NMG coaches are prohibited for use as parcel vans running on
piecemeal basis on passenger carrying trains.

(ix) POH and life of converted coaches will remain as prescribed in Board’s
letter dated 10.09.1996.

NMG rakes were permitted to run on freight pattern and maintenance

schedules will continue to be on coaching pattern to be carried out by
base depot. In absence of nominated Base Coaching Depot for each NMG
coach, planning of schedule maintenance and material is not being done
even now.

Recommendations:

(i) Each NMG coach should be allotted to a Base Coaching Depot for
planning of routine maintenance schedules and material.

6.3. Maintenance Pattern of NMG -Schedule ‘C’ attention (25.09.07)

Railway Board vide letter No. 91/M(C)/650/1 dated 25.09.07 issued partial
revision to maintenance pattern of NMG in reference to NR (ref N. Rly letter No.
802-M/6/l/NMG/Pt.ll/MC.1 dated 13.7.07) in respect of Open line maintenance
of NMG coaches -Schedule –‘C’ attention as under-

(i) As per Para (ii) of Board's letter of even No. dated 29.5.2000, it
stipulates that maintenance schedule of NMG coaches will
continue on the coaching pattern to be carried out by the base
depot.

(ii) The above stipulations have been reviewed and it has now been
decided that the requirements for maintenance pattern of NMG
coaches may be partially amended to incorporate carrying out 'C'
Schedule by any coaching depot over IR equipped to carry out 'C'
schedules, whenever and wherever a NMG coach falls due for 'C'
schedule.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 17 of 49

 (iii) With reference to N. Rly's letter dated 13.07.2007 it is incorrect on
the part of Northern Railway to unilaterally increase the 'C'
Schedule periodicity of NMG coaches from 6 months (as per
Board's directives) to 1 year. It may henceforth please be ensured
that there is no deviation in the periodicity of maintenance
schedules of coaches as laid down by Board/ROSO. In the present
case the 'C' Schedule periodicity for NMG coaches shall continue
to be 6 months +30/-0 days.

By permitting Railways to carry out Schedule ‘C’ by any coaching depot over
IR, and not having nominated base depot to monitor performance of NMG
coaches, the purpose of ownership is lost. There is no planning for periodic
maintenance schedules ie Schedule ‘A’ schedule ‘B’ and IOH, maintenance
spares and consumables.

Since Schedule ‘C’ has now been replaced with IOH at 12 months interval, it is
necessary to nominate base depot for each NMG coach so that planning for
spares can be done in advance, maintenance schedules are carried out timely,
their performance is monitored and corrective action is taken on repeated
defects observed during maintenance.

Recommendations:

(i) Each NMG coach should be allotted to a Base Coaching Depot for
planning of material and carrying out maintenance schedules timely.

(ii) Base Coaching Depots should have adequate infrastructure capacity

for Pit Line maintenance and stock of maintenance spares to repair
NMG coaches.

(iii) Zonal Railways must ensure to carry out Schedule ‘A’, Schedule ‘B’
and IOH of NMG coaches at nominated base depot (as per CAMTECH
Maintenance Manual for ICF Coaches Para 111c) at the nearest Sick
Line attached to the location where examination at coaching Pit Line
for NMG rake is carried out.

6.4. Movement of off POH/fresh converted NMG coaches (10.2.2010)

To ease converted/off POH NMG Coach movement, Railway Board vide letter
No. 91/M(C)/650/1 dated 10.2.2010 permitted movement of off POH/converted
NMG coaches from the Workshops to the base Depots as an exception to
attach empty off POH/converted NMG coaches to Mail/Express/passenger
trains at a maximum permissible speed of 110 Kmph for their one-time
movement from the Workshops to the base depots.

The problem of movement of off-POH coaches has since been addressed

and there is no problem now on this issue.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 18 of 49

6.5. Revised guidelines on maintenance pattern of NMG Rakes (27.08.2018)

To further optimise utilisation of NMG rakes, Railway board issued revised

guidelines on maintenance pattern of NMG Rakes vide letter No. 91/M(C)/650/1
dated 27.08.2018 as under.

A. End-to-End Running

(i) NMG rakes may be examined on goods pattern for end to end running
i.e. end to end intensive examination with BPC validity of 7 days.
(ii) The examination on this pattern is permitted on specified goods
examination lines and coaching lines.
(iii) However at least once in a month under gear examination on washing
line/pit line shall be ensured mentioning the last date of monthly
examination in the chart provided on end panels.
(iv) A and B schedules must also be carried out on pit line only.

B. Close Circuit Pattern

(v) Alternatively, examination can be carried out on close circuit pattern at

nominated depot for 3500 Km / 10 days, whichever is earlier.
(vi) This examination is permitted on Coaching Washing lines only having
proper Pit.
(vii) Close circuit rake must be clearly identified by printing of BPC on Blue
colour paper and should have a nominated base depot where adequate
trained staff and spares should be available.
(viii) Each NMG coach should be marked with the nominated POH Workshop
and return date.

C. Maintenance Schedules

(ix) The maintenance schedules of the NMG coaches will continue to be on

the coaching pattern.
(x) Special emphasis may be given to recording done / due schedules on
the end wall of the coach.
(xi) In case a coach is found due for any schedule (A schedule and above)
during examination in freight yard, it should be detached from the rake
to undertake schedule on Pit line / IOH shed.

D. Maximum permitted speed and payload

(xii) NMG coaches are fit for only 75 Kmph.

(xiii) Revised maximum payload of NMG coaches is fixed at 9.2 tonnes.
Therefore, using these coaches as parcel vans for running on piecemeal
basis on passenger carrying trains is strictly prohibited.

E. Maintenance Schedule stencilling and monitoring

(xiv) Each coach should be stencilled with at a suitable place on its end panel,
the code name of the base depot and a schedule chart.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 19 of 49

 (xv) The date and station code of the depot where a particular schedule is
carried out should be stencilled at the appropriate place in the schedule
chart immediately when the schedule is completed.
(xvi) The Performa for schedule chart to be printed on end panels to have
details of Schedule Date, Schedule Depot/Shop for Pit Examination, A-
Schedule, B-Schedule, IOH IC-Schedule and POH.
(xvii) POH and life of converted coaches will remain same as per Board's letter
No.91/M(C)/650/1 dated 10.09.1996.

The status of compliance to above instructions is discussed below.

A. End-to-End Running

On End-to-End Running of NMG rakes, intensive examination on specified

goods examination lines and coaching lines similar to goods pattern with
BPC validity of 7 days was permitted. However at least once in a month
under gear examination on washing line/pit line was be ensured and
examination chart updated on end panels.

Prior to the start of Premium NMG trials, PCOM/NFR vide its letter No
T/525/2/TRG/Pt 14 dated 15.10.2020 informed Railway Board that large
no of NMG rakes are being received in NFR with invalid BPC thus
adversely affecting the turnaround of NMG Rakes. 21 out of 29 NMG
(72.4%) rakes received in Sep’2020 in NFR were found on invalid BPC.
Similar pattern was observed in Sep’2020 having invalid BPC. The
validity of BPC has been considered only on the basis of no of days.
This confirms that systematic monitoring of NMG rakes for timely
maintenance has been lacking. This is one of the reasons of excessive
defects and damages being observed during NMG rake examination.
Another major reason being non allotment of Base depot for each NMG
coach to have planned for maintenance schedules and material for
maintenance.

Further during the trial period, it has been observed that, Premium
NMG rakes once formed have been running on End to End examination
pattern subsequently. And by this way monitoring of 6500 Km and 15
days limit whichever is earlier was not monitored and adhered to. Even
with End to End basis, the 7 days BPC limit for End to End NMG rakes
has been done away without any authority and there is no system of
motoring NMG Rakes for overdue examination on the basis of number
of days since last examination or cumulative KM earned and 15 days
BPC limit for Premium NMG Rakes. This a serious safety concern and
Railway Board is requested to issue suitable instructions to Zonal
Railways.

B. Close Circuit Pattern

In CC pattern of running of NMG Rakes, alternatively, examination on close

circuit pattern at nominated depot for 3500 Km / 10 days, with examination
on Coaching Washing lines having proper Pit was permitted. Coaching

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 20 of 49

 Depots were required to be nominated for maintenance of CC rakes and
nominated base depot should have adequate trained staff and spares for
maintenance.

It is observed that No NMG rake has been running on Close Circuit

pattern either during the trial or earlier. It needs to be examined in
consultation with Traffic directorate as why Close Circuit Rakes could
not be planned despite the fact that arising of transportation of
Automobiles by NMG Rakes is from dedicated and very few
originating, terminating and examination points.

C. Maintenance Schedules

The maintenance schedules of the NMG coaches continued to be on the

coaching pattern with special emphasis given to recording done / due
schedules on the end wall of the coach. In case a coach is found due for
any schedule (A schedule and above) during examination in freight yard, it
should be detached from the rake to undertake schedule on Pit line / IOH
shed.

The discipline of nominated each NMG coach to a Base coaching

Depot and planning of material and schedules is yet to be established
by Zonal Railways. Instructions for this were issued by Railway Board
in 1996 and reiterated from time to time.

D. Maximum permitted speed and payload

NMG coaches are being run on 75 Kmph with revised maximum payload
fixed at 9.2 tonnes.

Zonal Railways have that recommended Loading and unloading must

be supervised by Railway representative and uniform loading is
ensure in each NMG Coach to avoid transit damages and unsafe
operating conditions.

E. Maintenance Schedule stencilling and monitoring

Each NMG coach is to be stencilled with at a suitable place on its end panel
with the date and station code of the depot where a particular schedule is
carried out in the schedule chart immediately when the schedule is
completed. POH and life of converted coaches was kept same as per
Board's letter No.91/M(C)/650/1 dated 10.09.1996.

It is observed that Base Depot for NMG coaches has not been done by
Zonal Railways till now despite clear instructions from Railway Board
in the letter dated 10.09.1996 and reiterated later from time to time.

The above instructions of Railway Board are the latest one except the trial
of forming Premium NMG rakes introduced by Railway Board’s vide letter
dated 04.11.2020 with BPC validity limit of 3500 Km or 10 days to 6000

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 21 of 49

 kms or 15 days whichever is earlier. The same is discussed in subsequent
part of this report.

6.6. Formation of Premium NMG Rakes on trial for 6 months 04.11.2020

Railway Board vide letter No. 2010/M(C)/650/2 NMG dated 04.11.2020 advised
Zonal Railways to form Premium NMG Rakes on trial basis for six months with
enhanced BPC validity limit of 6000 KMs or 15 days whichever is earlier with a
view to further optimise NMG Rake utilisation subject to following conditions.

(i) On a trial basis for 6 months, Premium NMG rakes shall be formed.

(ii) Such Premium NMG rakes should be constituted of coaches after

thorough examination at Coaching depot Pit line (if required, attention
should be given in Sick line) duly assessing the condition of Head stock,
center pivots and corrosions of under gear.

(iii) Premium examination for such Premium NMG coaches may be carried
out after a distance of 6000 KMs or 15 days whichever is earlier.

(iv) These coaches will run in rake form only at a maximum speed of 75
kmph only.

(v) These rakes should be given due attention of oiling of dashpots and
side bearing pocket during each examination, which will be recorded on
the BPC issued for the Premium NMG rakes.

(vi) Rolling in examination of these NMG rakes shall be done at all

designated Rolling in examination points for coaching stock en-route.

(vii) Zonal Railways should maintain records of creation of such premium

rakes and their performance during these 6 Months and accordingly
should submit report to PED/CAMTECH.

(viii) PED/CAMTECH will further submit report to Board for modification of

maintenance scheme for NMGs for regular operation.

In response to above, IRCAMTECH vide letter no. IRCAMTECH/M/GWL/NMG

dated 26.11.2020 issued detailed formats for monitoring the performance of
NMG Premium Rakes and submit monthly performance report for the six-month
trials to finalise revised maintenance guidelines.

CRIS was also requested in a separate letter to integrate CMM and FOIS
Modules to capture online data from Zonal Railways and facility to generate
periodical reports as per format on the trial of NMG Premium Rakes.

7. Performance of Trial of Premium NMG Rakes for 6M Phase-I

Six months Trial of NMG premium Rakes (Phase-I) for the period of 04 Nov’
2020 to 20 May ’2021 monitored through detailed trial scheme issued by

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 22 of 49

 CAMTECH. Simultaneously CRIS was also requested to integrate CMM and
FOIS to analyse the performance of NMG Premium Rakes and generate
reports. Feedback of Zonal Railways and data collected from CRIS/FOIS during
the trial period has been anlysed and discussed in following paragraphs.

7.1. Zonal Railways reports on the Phase-I trial of Premium NMG Rakes

As per Railway Board’s letter no. 2010/M(C)/650/2/NMG dated 04.11.2020

Zonal Railways were advised to conduct 6 months trial of forming and running
of NMG Premium Rakes with examination period extended upto 6000 Km or 15
days whichever is earlier and submit report to CAMTECH to finalise revised
guidelines for regular operation of NMGs. CAMTECH issued formats to report
monthly performance of the trial to finalise revised instructions.

Analysis of data and feedback furnished by Zonal Railways for the period of
04’Nov 2020 to 30’May 2021 is as under.

a) Railways reported 237 Premium NMG rake pit line examinations done
during the period. Coaching depot wise examination of Premium NMG
rakes are given below:

Sr Rly Dept Premium NMG Rake returned to

Rake Examined same Depot
1. NER LKU 71
2. NR CDG 69 1
3. CR MMR 54 8
4. WR KKF 16 2
5. WR PRTN 21 1
6. SR TNPM 6
7. NFR NBQ 0
8. ER ER 0
Total 237 12

b) A Total of 237 NMG Premium rakes were examined during the period of
Nov-20 to May-21.

c) Out of 237, 12 rakes were offered for re-examination at the same depot.

d) No record of Km earned in each trip was maintained by Running Staff and

Traffic department.

e) None of the Premium NMG rakes was monitored for cumulative KM earned
limit of 6000 KM and 15 days whichever is earlier since last examination by
Traffic department. Hence Coaching depots do not have any records to link
last pit line examination and performance of rakes running on trial.

f) All Premium NMG Rakes were offered for examination without details of
previously issued BPC and history of rake movement since last
examination.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 23 of 49

7.2. Depot wise performance on NMG Rakes is as under.

CDG/NR Depot:-

a) CDG depot of NR examined 69 Premium NMG rakes. Out of 69 rakes only

one rake examined on 13.03.21 returned back on 20.03.2021. Out of 69
rakes 45 are with SLR and 24 with BV.

b) Total DVS from NMG during trial period is 108 ie 1.56 DVS per rake
examined.

c) Major defects and material consumed during Pit line maintenance are:-

• Oil-2027 ltr.
• Brake Blocks 164
• DV defective 06

Suggestions:-

a) NMG Coaches are being received with overdue schedules ie Monthly and
Quarterly.

b) Man hours required for NMG is more then normal ICF rake as large no of
defects are required to be attended at End Doors, Wooden Floor, Fall
plates, Safety laches and other body repairs.

c) Base depots for NMG Coaches and Premium rakes should be allotted to
Base Depots so that maintenance can be improved by regular maintenance
on ownership basis.

d) Dash Pot oil is deficient in all bogies and all coaches are required to be
attended for Dashpot oiling in every examination.

e) All NMG premium rakes should be run with SLR only in place of Goods
Brake Van being provided in half of the rakes.

f) Main Constraint: If all pre covid trains be restored than most of the medium
or major coaching depots don't have slot for these NMG rakes. This should
be in mind while nominating the base depot.

NER/Lalkuan Depot:-

a) LKU depot examined 71 premium NMG rakes from Nov-20 to May-21.

b) LKU depot have the capacity of 19 coaches hence examination is carried

out in two part placements.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 24 of 49

 c) 13 NMG coaches were attended in sick line for heavy repair during the
period of Oct-20 to May-21. Out of 13 coaches, 6 NMG coaches were
marked sick for floor repair.

d) LKU Depot has carried out the IOH of 32 NMG coaches during the period
of Oct-20 to May-21 without changing the trollies.

e) 23 coaches were detached from the NMG rakes during the period of Oct-
20 to May-21.

Issues in NMG maintenance: -

a) Min 6 hrs time of maintenance recommended for NMG rake examination.

b) Dash pot oiling is required in all 26 coaches during Pit line examination.

c) Floor damage, breaking of hinges of end panel door, Hanging of door,

Hitting of door with buffer of adjacent coaches while opening of door,
missing of fall plate, breaking of fall plate support are the common problem
in maintenance.

d) Rakes must be nominated for End to end, CC and Premium NMG Rakes.

Suggestions in NMG maintenance and operation: -

a) The rakes should be nominated along with base depot.

b) Examination time of 6 Hrs should be fixed for Pit line examination.

c) SLR should not be converted into NMG rather it should be attached with
NMG rakes as a brake van.

d) End to End rakes are running overdue examination as these are not being
monitored for 7 days BPC validity. Proper maintenance as per ICF
maintenance manual is not possible unless a base depot is nominated for
each NMG Coach, Premium and CC Rake.

Western Railway: -

a) Maximum of Premium NMG rake examination done by WR at KKF and

PRTN depots for NMG Premium rakes.

b) KKF has done 16 Premium NMG rakes examination and 21 by PRTN

depot.

c) Out of 37 NMG premium Rake examined by WR, 03 rakes are repeated for
next examination in WR.
d)

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 25 of 49

 Rake examined on 23.11.2020 by Kankariya coaching depot of WR
returned back to KKF depot on 20.12.2020 for next examination i.e. after
28 days.

e) Similarly, rake examined on 02.03.2021 by KKF returned back to same

depot on 31.03.2021.i.e. after 29 days.

f) Rake examined on 20.12.2020 on KKF is returned back at PRTN depot on

18.02.2021 for next examination i.e. After 58 days from last examination.

g) Out of three Premium NMG rakes, 2 examined on same depot of Kankariya

Coaching Depot (KKF) of WR and one rake of KKF was revived back for
examination on PRTN depot.

Manmad (MMR) Coaching Depot CR: -

a) MMR depot examined 54 NMG rakes during the trial period from Nov-20 to
May-21.

b) 22 rakes offered for examination with invalid BPC i.e. more than 15 days
limit.

c) MMR depot carried out 391 schedules of A&B of NMG coaches during the
period.

d) 8 rakes re-examined on MMR depot. One in Nov-20, one in Jan-21, Four

in Feb-21 and two in march-21).

e) Most of the rakes examined once in depot did not come back for re-
examination, as such unable to give performance details of that particular
rake.

f) Out of above rakes offered for examination, proper logging of Km

(continuous logging) not done even a single rake. (Kms earned/Run by
rake are not logged in BPC by Train Crew, as such the details of Kms run
by rake is not known for ascertaining the actual Kms run is less than
6000kms or otherwise).

g) It is noted that during primary examination most of the coaches arriving

overdue schedule A&B, which indicates that NMG Coaches are not
touching PM depots to attend schedules during Primary Maintenance.

h) ln some rakes it is noted that all the 24 coaches are overdue for schedules
which becomes very difficult to attend within pit occupation time.

i) NMG's (specially NMG's with wooden flooring) need heavy repairs to floor
in some coaches.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 26 of 49

 j) The T-Stiffeners provided for stiffing of body pillars is welded at different
heights, which is causing problem when this height is less than 6 feet 8 inch
for loading some vehicles.

k) During the observation period no coach has been found with broken Axle
Box spring/Bolster spring.

l) In most of the coaches it is observed that the Dashpot oil level is very less
or even nil in some coaches on arrival.

Suggestions: -

a) To get more reliability in operation the rakes should be run on CC pattern

with Base nomination for 6000kms/15days whichever is earlier, so that
schedules can be attended timely by the nominated primary depot.

7.3. Analysis of data received from CRIS CMM/FOIS

In the beginning of the trial, CRIS was advised to integrate data pertaining to
NMG coaches between CMM and FOIS Modules so that performance of NMG
Rakes in field and maintenance data is from Coaching Depots can be
correlated to assess the performance of NMG rakes proposed to run on trial of
NMG Premium Rakes as directed by Railway Board. While CRIS is still working
to integrate CMM and FOIS, it has provided limited data. The same has been
analysed and discussed in following paragraphs.

Summary of all NMG Rakes running as per FOIS during the period 04.11.2020
– 20.05.2021 is as under.

Type of No of
examination (as No of Rake Rake No of no of Rake No of No of
per FOIS Data) Examination IDs Trips Examination Rake IDs Trips
End to End 221 122 1854 76.47% 67.03% 79.47%
STR 41 40 312 14.19% 21.98% 13.37%
Premium 27 20 167 9.34% 10.99% 7.16%
Total 289 182 2333 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

Analysis of above data from CRIS/FOIS indicates that-

a. A total of 289 nos of NMG Rakes were offered for all types of NMG
examination during the period.

b. Only 9.34% (27 Nos) of NMG Premium examination were carried out on 20
Premium Rakes formed. None of these rakes was monitored for 6000 Km
and 15 days BPC limit whichever is earlier.

c. Rest of the 90.66% (262 Nos) of NMG examinations were offered for End-
to End examination. None of these Rakes was monitored for 7 days BPC

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 27 of 49

 validity limit for End to End Rakes as prescribed in Para A (i) of Board’s
letter dated 27.08.2018. Though there were no instructions to enhance BPC
validity for End to End NMG Rakes.

d. No NMG rake was offered on Close Circuit Rake examination.

e. Many Premium NMG Rakes were issued manual BPC (instead of through
CMM BPC Module) as some of the newly converted NMG Coaches were
not entered into CMM Database. Due to this NMG data on CMM and FOIS
could not be correlated to assess the performance of NMG rakes.

f. Records of KM earned by each Premium rake were not recorded by Driver

and Guard of the train. Thus, maintenance depots are not having any
records of cumulative KM earnings between two examinations.

g. Running of NMG Rakes without monitoring 6000 KM limit or 15 days BPC

validity period for Premium NMG Rakes and 7 days BPC validity limit for
End to End Rakes has resulted into monthly and quarterly schedules
running overdue with complete absence of monitoring overdue and
schedules for ICF Coaches as mandated by ICF maintenance manual.

7.4. Summary of experience gained by Phase-I of the NMG Premium trial

To follow up the trial of Premium NMG Rakes, performance of the trial received
from Zonal Railways was discussed through series of Video Conferences
organised by CAMTECH. Based on the issues raised by Zonal Railways,
following are the major issues affecting performance of NMG rakes.

(i) Non allotment of Base depot for NMG Coaches, there is no ownership and
therefore schedule and material planning for NMG coaches is not being
done in Field.

(ii) Non availability of all NMG Coach’s database in CMM Module leading to
issue of manual BPC. CRIS has requested Zonal Railways to feed NMG
conversion data in WISE/CMM.

(iii) Loco Pilot and guard not logging the kilometres earned during each trip on
the BPC. CAMTECH has issued revised trial scheme for Phase-II trial and
included a JPO to be issued jointly signed between Mechanical and
Operating Departments.

(iv) NMG By following the pattern of running of NMG on freight pattern, yard
examination on non pitline was introduced for NMG rakes. Since it is not
possible to examine and attend ICF coach bogie defects in yard and with
the increase in utilisation of NMG rakes, Pit Line examination after every
6000 km is must so that complete examination of undergear and safety is
ensured till next examination.

Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021 Page 28 of 49

 (v) To conclude, revised recommendations for specifying 6000 KM or 15 days
whichever is earlier has not been monitored by Zonal railways therefore no
conclusions can be drawn from the Phase-I trails of six months duration
from Nov’20-May’21.

Recommendation

To effectively monitor the Phase-II trial of Premium NMG Rakes and record KM
earned in each trip, detailed trial scheme has been issued by CAMTECH vide
letter No.: IRCAMTECH/M/GWL/NMG Dated 02.06.2021. Copy of the trial
scheme is enclosed at Annexure-VII. Railway Board may advise Zonal
Railways to monitor the Phase-II trial by monitoring cumulative limit of earing
for 6000 KM and 15 days’ time limit since last Examination.

8. Possibility of Reduction in Rake examination time

The issue of possibility of reduction in rake examination time of NMG Rake was
discussed at length during Video Conferences with concerned Coaching
Depots. Depots have indicated that due to lack of ownership of NMG Coaches,
there are large no of defects and deficiencies being observed in every Pit line
examination and there is no possibility of reduction in rake examination time.
Minimum 6 Hrs examination is required to complete examination of one NMG
Rake. Additional time is required where NMG rakes are being examined in part
due to inadequate length of examination pit line. Under present circumstances,
there is need to strengthen the system of Pit line examination of NMG Rakes
and it does not provide opportunity to reduce rake examination time.

Recommendation

During Pit line examination heavy workload of attending deficiencies and

defects repairs on NMG Coaches is being observed. Adequate Pit line
maintenance time (min 6 hrs) and adequate manpower must be provided
at base Coaching Depots to carry out proper safety checks and body
repair activities during Pit line examination.

9. List of all Recommendations

Based upon the discussions and deliberations as elaborated above, all

recommendations are listed below.

9.1. Service life of NMG coaches

Service life of existing NMG Caches may be fixed to 30 years maximum instead
of 35 years as against specified in Railway Board vide letter No.
2010/M(C)/650/2 dated 20.12.2010. (Para 4.0)

9.2. Service life of NMGH coaches

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 Post conversion life of NMGH coaches may be fixed at 10 years Maximum or
30 years from built year whichever is earlier. (Para 4.0)

9.3. POH/IOH Periodicity

IOH and POH periodicity of NMG coaches may be continued with 12 Months
for IOH and 24 Months for POH. (Para 5.1 (i))

9.4. Criteria of POH of old design of NMG Coaches

Extent of corrosion repairs on NMG coaches during POH in workshops should

be the major guiding criteria to decide its repair and extension till next POH
cycle. NMG Coaches having heavy corrosion and high repair content over 400
Man-hrs should be critically examined and considered for condemnation. (Para
5.1 (ii))

9.5. Accelerated Plan to replace old design of NMG coaches by NMGH

Accelerated conversion of surplus ICF coaches into NMGH Coaches and

phasing out of old NMG coaches may be planned on priority as NMGH coaches
have 47% higher speed potential and lower maintenance requirement by way
of standardised and improved design. (Para 5.1 (iii))

9.6. Nomination of Base Depot for NMG Coaches

a) Since NMG coaches are classified as OCV, each NMG coach should be
allotted to a Base at any convenient coaching depot on ownership basis
for planning of material and carrying out maintenance schedules timely.
(Para 6.1 (i), Para 6.3 (i))

b) Base Depot to keep records of maintenance, monitor performance of NMG

Coaches and take corrective action for repeated defects noticed during Pit
Line examination. (Para 6.1 (ii))

c) Base Coaching Depot should have adequate infrastructure capacity for Pit
Line maintenance and stock of maintenance spares to repair NMG
coaches. (Para 6.2 (i), (Para 6.3 (ii)))

d) Base Coaching Depot must ensure to carry out routine maintenance

schedules ie Schedule ‘A’, Schedule ‘B’ and IOH of NMG coaches at
nominated base depot (as per CAMTECH Maintenance Manual for ICF
Coaches Para 111c) at the nearest Sick Line attached to the location
where examination at coaching Pit Line for NMG rake is carried out. (Para
6.3 (iii))

e) Base Coaching Depot to ensure that records of maintenance for NMG

coaches are maintained and data updated on CRIS CMM/FOIS modules
similar to ICF Coaches so that performance of NMG coaches can be

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 analysed over a period and corrective actions taken to improve the
performance. (Para 6.3)

9.7. Supervision of Loading and unloading to avoid damage

Loading and unloading must be supervised by Railway representative and

uniform loading is ensure in each NMG Coach to avoid transit damages and
unsafe operating conditions. (para 6.5 D)

9.8. Reduction in Rake examination time

Adequate Pit line maintenance time (min 6 hrs) and adequate manpower must
be provided at base Coaching Depots to carry out proper safety checks and
body repair activities during Pit line examination of NMG Coaches. (Para 8 )

****

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 Annexure- I

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 Annexure- II

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 Annexure- III

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 Annexure- IV

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 Annexure- V

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Summary of suggestions and problems in maintenance and operation of NMG
coaches furnished by Zonal Railways.
(Ref: IRCAMTECH/M/GWL/NMG dated 14.08.2020, 14.10.2020 & 26.11.2020).
Railw Feedback
ays
CR Maintenance issue:-
• Door design:-There are three types of door
design i.e. curved door, rectangular door and
rectangular door design with hinged doors to
serve as fall plates. Out of which rectangular
door has height of 2.01 m and width 2.35 m.
This height at entry is less as compared to
curved design. Customers complained
particularly about rectangular door with
hinged door (to serve as fall plate). Coaches
with these doors are prone/subject-to theft (of
tool box/spare wheel/vehicle accessories)
Hinged doors also get broken during transit.
• Roof/Sidewall support angles:-NMG
conversion is based on a Drg developed by
JUDW- JUDW/Mech-28. The drawing
includes the provision of 4 structural
strengthening member. This includes a
vertical U bracket, at the coach centre. This
additional structural member obstructs/hits
the roof of higher height vehicles and does not
permit loading of LCVs.
• Fall Plate Design:-Protrusion of fall plate
hinges from floor level can potentially damage
tyre of vehicle.
Significant gap between fall plate & NMG floor
level due to which the vehicle gets jerk while
climbing and getting off.
In NMG coaches there is no holding
hook/bracket arrangement which can hold fall
plate. Fall plate rest on the coach floor &
occupy loadable interior area.
• Coach floor design:-As per JUDW drg, wood
slats to be installed as coach flooring. This
floor usually found damaged in several
places. Also due to water seepage, this
wooden flooring gets more unsuitable for the
purpose.
NER Compreg sheet on floor is getting damaged
frequently and need repairs. It should be
replaced with MS sheet.
NFR • Excessive floor damages requiring more time
in repairs either in-position in pitline,
Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021
Annexure- VI
Suggestion
• Curved door design is preferred among
others. NMG rake entails one-side, end
wall entry, an efficient door design is
imperative.
• Removal of this member would enable
the entire interior cross-section of
converted NMG.
• The jerk could be avoided by providing a
suitable ramp.
• The edges of fall plates, brackets of
hinges & other floor structures need to be
rounded-off to prevent damages.
• A suitable hook to hold the fall plate at 80-
85 deg on being folded back should be
available.
• Standardised the fall plate design.
• All interior fittings, light fixtures& junction
boxes should be removed & a clear
interior surface/space provided to prevent
damages/injury.
• Proper Blanking of windows/doors.
• Good quality barrel locks on doors.
• Coaches of more than 20-25 yr age are
presently being converted to NMG. It is
imperative thorough under frame
inspection be undertaken during
conversion& in case of the coach
warranting corrosion repairs, adequate
corrosion repair attention be ensured.
• RDSO has addressed this issue in NMGH
design.
• Chequered plate should be provided on
floor during conversion, POH and IOH.
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 whenever damages are less or else by
detachment and repairing in sick line.
• It is not possible to do undergear examination
especially on ICF bogies without placing it in
a pit line. At many places, availability of pit line
is an issue. The rakes have to wait for slots on
pit lines.
• It is also permitted to do end to end
examination of NMG rakes in freight yards i.e.
without pitline provisions with stipulations of
pitline examination once in a month.
Complete examination of under gear is not
feasible in freight yards.
• The projection of arising of NMG rakes for
examination is random. No advance material
planning is feasible. This issue is likely to
aggravate with increase in population.
• Most of the rakes received in NF railway are
with invalid BPC, requiring examination and
fitness for safety of rakes.
• NMG stocks are converted from nearly
outlived PCVs. Superstructure and
underframe members of the stocks have lost
strength and reliability to some extent due to
cyclic stress and corrosion.
• In BEML coaches distance between outer
stanchions is approx 2650 mm (2450 mm in ICF
coaches) so size of end wall door has to been
changed. Hence BEML coaches will give
differently sized end wall door compared to ICF
doors. So a separate drawing for BEML may be
SWR
standardized.
• Certain BEML coaches comes with T-section
stanchion pillars instead of box section as found
in ICF coaches. Hence there is no clarity in
fitment of door frame of end wall door on outer
stanchions in such coaches.
WR • During examination heavy damages to the
floor of NMG coaches is frequently observed.
• NMG rakes have not been allotted any base
depot. For improved maintenance, it is
suggested that all NMG rakes should have a
nominated base depot so that focused
maintenance with advanced planning can be
carried out with pin pointed responsibility.
Report on Review of Maintenance Pattern of NMG coaches (Part-I) Jul-2021
• All examinations, end to end or CC
examinations should be carried out in
pitline so that complete undergear can be
examined and safety is ensured.
• Examinations should preferably be
carried out in nominated depots. The
nominated depots can plan Sch A and
Sch B. These depots can do proper
material planning based on their holding
of NMG rakes, thereby avoiding any
detention on account of non-availability of
material.
• AAC of most of the items of ICF had been
reduced considering probable
condemnation of ICF stocks. With large
number of them being converted to NMG,
the AAC of ICF items need fresh revision
by all railways. Similarly, WTA items need
not be reduced by board for ICF stocks.
• Required infrastructure of pit lines may be
reviewed & additional pit lines must be
provided on priority, whichever
inadequacies are noticed.
At the time of conversion to NMG, the
Headstock should be renewed invariably so
that it will run the remaining life.
• Strengthening of flooring during POH.
• NMG rake may be examined on pattern
(6) of coaching trains i.e. BPC is valid for
10 days or 4500 Kms whichever is earlier.
• Maintenance time for a rake depends on
a number of factors such as availability of
manpower, age of rolling stock, inherent
design capability and available
technology. NMG are converted from
used coaches which otherwise would
have been condemned after completion
of codal life. Without any commensurate
technological input, it is not advisable to
reduce the maintenance time due to the
large number of safety related defects
being observed.
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 Annexure- VII

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 List of references

Sr. Letter No Date Subject and matter in brief

1 91/M(C)/650/1 18.07.1991 Conversion of over aged ICF coaches for carrying Maruti vans.
2 91/M(C)/650/1 31.12.1993 POH periodicity 24 months as being followed for other OCVs.
3 91/M(C)/650/1 10.09.1996 NMG is treated as OCV and pattern of examination is of OCV.
The extended life of converted coaches taken as four years.
4 91/M(C)/650/1 29.05.2000 NMG rakes may run on goods pattern with intensive
examination at both the ends. In case of close circuit runs up
to 2500 km, the rake may be run on round trip basis.
Maintenance schedules of the NMG coaches will same as of
coaching pattern.
NMG coaches are fit for 75 kmph only. Maximum payload of
NMG is fixed at 9.2 tonnes.
5 91/M(C)/650/1 25.09.2007 “C” schedule may be carried out by any coaching depot
wherever NMG coach fall due for “C” schedule.
Periodicity of “C” schedule for NMG coach shall remain same
i.e. 6 months+30/-0 days.
6 91/M(C)/650/1 10.09.2009 Coach with life of 25 years with badly deteriorated interiors but
with sound shell structure may be converted to NMG.
Converted coach taken up for POH after 2 years and allow in
service for another 2 yrs i.e. up to a total service life of 29 yrs.
7 91/M(C)/650/1 10.02.2010 Maximum permissible speed of 110 Kmph for one time
movement from the workshop to the base depots.
8 2010/M(C)/650/2 20.12.2010 Service life of OCVs converted from PCV is fixed as 10 years
post such conversion or a total life of 35 years whichever is
less.
9 2016/M(C)/650/2 21.02.2017 Conversion to NMGs is permitted for ICF coaches, which are
pt IV going for their last POH in their 24th year.
10 91/M(C)/650/1 27.08.2018 NMG rake can be examined on goods pattern with End to End
(Current intensive examination on specified goods examination lines
maintenance and coaching washing lines. BPC validity for 7 days. At at least
Guidelines) once in a month undergear examination on washing line/pit line
be ensured.
Alternatively, examination can be done on CC pattern at
nominated depot for 3500 Km/10 days whichever is earlier on
coaching washing lines only having proper pit.
CC rake must be clearly identified by printing of BPC on Blue
colour paper and should have a nominated base depot.
NMG fit for 75Kmph and revised payload fixed at 9.2 tonnes.
11 2010/M(C)/650/2 07.02.2020 ICF coaches (GS, Chair cars, SCN & SLRD) completed 20
Pt. years can be considered for conversion into NMGs.
12 2010/M(C)/650/2 07.08.2020 RDSO to standardize drawings and procedure for conversion
NMG of ICF coaches into NMGs with speed upto 110 Kmph.
CAMTECH to review and issue maintenance guidelines with
detailed IOH and POH schedules for NMGs with RB approval.
13 2010/M(C)/650/2 13.10.2020 Regarding review of increasing the validity period for CC rakes
NMG of NMG from 3500Km/10 days to 7500Km/35 days.
14 2010/M(C)/650/2 04.11.2020 Premium NMG rakes shall be formed on trial for 6 months with
NMG BPC validity of 6000 Kms or 15 days whichever is earlier.
Record of dashpot oiling and side bearing pocket will be
recorded on the BPC. Zonal railway should maintain records of
such premium rakes for 6 months and should submit report to
PED/CAMTECH.
15 2010/M(C)/650/2 31.05.2021 Extension of the trial period for 3 months.
NMG

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 Write to Us

CAMTECH is continuing its efforts in the documentation and upgradation of

information on maintenance practices of railway assets. Over the years a large
number of publications on railway assets have been prepared in the form of
handbooks, pocket books, pamphlets & video films etc. These publications
have been uploaded on the internet as well as on rail net.

For downloading these publications please do following:

1. On internet visit: www.rdso.indianrailways.gov.in Go to Directorates→

CAMTECH→ Publication for download→ Mechanical Engineering.

2. On Railnet visit RDSO website at 10.100.2.19 Go to Directorates→

CAMTECH→ Publication for download→ Mechanical Engineering

For any further information regarding publications please contact:

Director/Mechanical.

Landline: 0751-2470890
CUG: 9752447040
E Mail: dirmech@gmail.com
Fax: 0751-2470841

Write us at:

Director (Mechanical)
Indian Railways Centre for Advanced Maintenance Technology
In front of Hotel Adityaz, Airport
Maharajpur, Gwalior (M.P.), Pin code- 474005

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