Tiruchirappalli's "Golden Rock" area, known locally as Ponmalai, is named after the goddess Ponneshwari (Golden Goddess) who is situated in a hillock within the region. The name signifies the golden hue or spiritual significance associated with the deity rather than a geological golden color of the rock itself.
The Golden Rock Railway Workshop (officially the Central Workshop, Golden Rock or GOC) traces its origins to 1897, when it was initially established by the South Indian Railway Company in Nagapattinam to maintain steam locomotives. Due to the coastal location's distance from the network's core, operations were relocated to a more central site in Tiruchirappalli (then Trichinopoly), where the foundation stone was laid by Mrs. R.P. Munro on October 20, 1926, and the workshop officially commenced operations in 1928.
Over its history, the 200-acre facility has evolved significantly, transitioning from steam locomotive maintenance to diesel locomotive periodic overhauls (POH) starting in 1969 and wagon manufacturing beginning in 1962. Key milestones include assisting the Royal Air Force with fighter-bomber repairs during World War II, exporting over 100 locomotives to countries like Mozambique and Tanzania, and achieving a historic feat in August 2021 by manufacturing India's first indigenous coal-fired X-class steam locomotive for the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.
In recent years, the workshop has continued to modernize, earning the Rolling Stock Shield in 2024 for outstanding quality performance and receiving the National Award for Energy Management in 2021. It is currently preparing infrastructure to handle the periodic overhaul of electric locomotives and has plans to establish dedicated facilities for Vande Bharat trainset maintenance by 2025, solidifying its role as a premier mechanical repair facility under the Southern Railway zone