Indian Railways is working on an ambitious plan of electrification of its entire Broad Gauge network. In a bid to reduce the dependency on petroleum- based energy resources, and with an aim to become pollution free and energy efficient, the Railways has extended its electrified network to 83 per cent. More than 32,000 Route Kilometers (RKMs) have been electrified in the last eight years (since 2014).
The Indian Railways has set a target to become world’s largest ‘Green Railways’ with Zero Carbon Emission by 2030.
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In 2022-23, a total of 1,973 route km (2,647 TKM) has been electrified. This is 41 per cent higher as compared to previous year. Five zonal railways – East Coast Railway (ECOR), South Eastern Railway (SER), Western Railway (WR), Eastern Railway (ER), and North Central railway (NCR) have been fully electrified. In addition, the railways has also completed 1,161 km of electrification of double lines and 296 km of sidings till date. Therefore, in FY 2022-23, a total of 4,100 TKM have been electrified.
In FY 2021-22, the Indian Railways’ has achieved record electrification of 6,366 route km. In 2020-21, the electrification of 6,015 RKMs was achieved.
Apart from this, last mile seamless connectivity on electric traction is now available at following routes –
- From New Delhi to Kathgodam/ Ramnagar
- From New Delhi to Samakhiali
- From Chennai to Kanyakumari
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During the launch of the country’s seventh Vande Bharat Express on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has linked reforms and development of Indian Railways with the development of the nation. He added that 20 thousand route kilometre rail lines were electrified in the first 70 years of Independence.
The Prime Minister said, “the central government is making record investments in the modern railway infrastructure.” He also highlighted strides made in the fields of Railway safety, cleanliness, coordination, capability, punctuality and facilities.
