 TNP based WDM-7 (running on bio diesel) at Perambur | |
 Interactive map of Diesel Loco Shed, Tondiarpet | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Tondiarpet,Chennai,Tamil Nadu,India |
| Coordinates | 13°07′36″N80°16′53″E / 13.1268°N 80.2815°E /13.1268; 80.2815 |
| Characteristics | |
| Owner | Indian Railways |
| Operator | Southern Railway zone |
| Depot code | TNPD |
| Type | Engine shed |
| Rolling stock | WDM 3A,WDG 3A,WDS 6,WDG 4,WDG 4D |
| History | |
| Opened | 1972; 54 years ago (1972) |
Diesel Loco Shed, Tondiarpet is amotive power depot performing locomotive maintenance and repair facility fordiesel locomotives of theIndian Railways. It is located nearTondiarpet railway station (TNP) of theSouthern Railway zone in the city ofChennai,Tamil Nadu[1][2] and is one of the four diesel loco sheds of the Southern Railway, the others being atErnakulam (ERS) atKochi,Erode (ED) andGolden Rock (GOC) at Trichy.
On 25 December 1971, the thenRailway Minister,K. Hanumanthaiya, laid the foundation stone for the loco shed. After four years of construction, it was finally opened in 1975 with a total area of 169,000square metres (170,000 m2) and covered area of 19,600square metres (20,000 m2). It initially homedYDM-4 classMG locomotives, and was once expanded in 1993 to holdBroad Gauge locomotives and again in 2000 to accommodate more than 100 locos.[3]
Tondiarpet diesel loco shed is located to the north of the station. The diesel shed was commissioned in October 1972. Earlier a steam shed used to exist with 14WG locomotives, but this shed was decommissioned and subsequently demolished to make way for the diesel shed.[4] The new diesel shed got a batch ofWDS-4Bdiesel locomotives as its first locomotives. These locomotives were used for shunting in themarshalling yard at Tondiarpet, the goods sheds atRoyapuram,Salt Cotaurs, and the coaching depot atBasin Bridge in Chennai division.[5][6][7] later the number of WDS-4B locomotives was increased to 64 for meeting increasing demand inTrichi,Palakkad,Bangalore,Thiruvananthapuram,Mysore divisions andICF,Perambur. As the WDS-4 fleet began to reach the end of their serviceable life, WDM-7 locomotives were transferred from Ernakulam and put into service on both passenger and yard shunting work. In April 2007, mainline WDM2-model from Erode locomotives were additionally inducted for hauling goods. Currently, the shed holds 9 WDG-3A, 14 WDM-3A, 18 WDS-6, 8 WDG-4 and 6 WDG-4D
The shed has a total area of 75,000 sq m, including a covered area of 6,652 sq m, and has a capacity of 50 locomotives. The shed employs about 378 persons.[8]
The shed was recently given an increase in its horsepower, with the allotment of threeWDG-4 locomotives, transferred fromPonmalai Golden Rock (GOC), thereby markingChennai Division's first three EMD locomotives. As of November 2025, eleven more WDG-4 locomotives (five single-cab WDG-4, and six dual-cab WDG-4D) have been allotted to the shed by transferring them from various sheds, totalling the count to fourteen EMD locos.
The shed, headed by Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer (Diesel), has about 750 employees in different ranks in the day-to-day operations of the shed, which include periodical overhaul, maintenance and repair works.[9] The locos of this shed were thoroughly traverses over entire South India for passenger and freight services.[10] Like all locomotive sheds, TNP does regular maintenance, overhaul and repair including painting and washing of locomotives. It not only attends to locomotives housed at TNP but to ones coming in from other sheds as well. It has four pit lines for loco repair.
Locomotives of Tondiarpet DLS along with Erode and Golden Rock DLS were the regular links for all trains running through Tamil Nadu, even though widespread electrification of railway lines started in Tamil Nadu. TNP locomotives used to be predominantly the regular links for trains traveling on theKonkan Railway as well. As more and more railway lines in Tamil Nadu were electrified, TNP started losing links toelectric locomotives, mainlyWAP-1,WAP-4,WAG-7 andWAP-7 locomotives from the Erode (ED), Arakkonam (AJJ) and Royapuram (RPM) electric locomotive sheds.
Indian Railways allows diesel loco sheds to paint their locomotives in their own unique liveries. Tondiarpet's locomotives have their current livery scheme painted in light blue with a wide cream band around the middle, with dark blue lines on the top and bottom, to match with the ICF livery. The dark blue bar and the light blue line taper downwards at both ends of the locomotive to create a V-shaped design. This orange-cream-orange color scheme gives the locomotives a cheerful and pleasant look. One locomotive, WDM-7A #11008 was painted in an experimental light green-cream-light green scheme.
| Serial No. | Locomotive Class | Horsepower | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | WDM-3A | 3100 | 14 |
| 2. | WDG-3A | 9 | |
| 3. | WDS-6 | 1400 | 18 |
| 4. | WDG-4/4D | 4500 | 14 |
| Total Locomotives Active as of November 2025[11] | 55 | ||
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