Savings Of Rs 556.56 Crore Per Annum Due To 100 Per Cent Electrification Of Railways

Mumbai, 4th March 2023: Electrification of Indian Railways is being emphasized as trains running on electricity instead of diesel are economically viable. 100 per cent electrification of the Mumbai section of Central Railway has been completed and Central Railway has succeeded in saving Rs 556.56 crore per year.

Indian Railways is working towards becoming the world’s largest green railway and moving towards becoming a ‘net zero carbon emitter’ by 2030. Also, electrification will increase the speed of all trains and save time. With this, the Mumbai division will save Rs 556.56 crore on fuel costs. Also, 1.64 lakh tonnes of carbon emissions will be reduced annually. It will help to speed up the electrification of railways. Also, it will be convenient to decommission the diesel engine.

The country’s first electric train ran in 1925 from the then-Bombay Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) to Kurla on the Harbor Line. Subsequently, the conversion of DC traction to AC traction on the Mumbai section of the Central Railway began in 2001 and was completed by 2016. Therefore, the nine-coach local service was converted into a 12-coach local service in the suburban section. This increased the passenger capacity by 33 per cent.

In 2019, 555.5 km of track was fully electrified in the Mumbai division. The last electrification was done between Panvel–Pen–Roha. This has benefited Raigad and Alibaug districts to connect them with the Mumbai municipality. During the year 2022-23, 77 mail/express trains were converted to electric engines. Important electric trains in the Mumbai section include Rajdhani Express, Vande Bharat Express, Deccan Queen, Punjab Mail, Tejas Express, Vidarbha Express, and Duronto Express.