CHENNAI: World’s first Mobile Emission Test Car for Diesel Locomotives rolled out from the premier production unit of Indian Railways, ICF, here on Monday.Addressing the gathering on the occasion, V Ramachandran, Director General, Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow said different countries have laid down emission standards for their railroad applications like the United States Environmental Protection Agency and UIC Standards that are followed in the USA and in European nations. On similar lines, RDSO is doing an exercise to lay down emission standards for Indian Railway locomotives, he added. He said the Emission Test Car (ETC) is meant to measure exhaust emissions from Diesel Locomotives and was sanctioned by the Railway Board under its works programme in 2007-08 with a total estimated expenditure is `8.63 crore approximately. “The mass emission measurement equipment has been supplied by HORIBA Limited in Japan and the coach was manufactured at ICF, Chennai,” he said and added, “This is the first step of the Indian Railways towards controlling emissions on par with international standards.”Ramachandran also pointed out that the mass equipment system provided on the coach is capable to measure oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, total hydrocarbons, methane hydrocarbons, smoke opacity, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Speaking on the occasion, Abhay K Khanna, General Manager, ICF stated that the test car is a mobile vehicle that will move to various diesel sheds and coaching depots to measure emission levels. This will enable the Indian Railways to maintain locomotives and power cars to desired emission standards, he underlined.
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