Indian Railways' full electrification to improve throughput, line capacity and train speed

The complete electrification of broad gauge network of Indian Railways will increase the line capacity, train speed and throughput by 10-15 percent, a source in direct knowledge of the matter told reporters on Monday.

Electric mobility in railways was given a big boost two weeks ago, when the union cabinet approved electrification of 108 sections covering 13,675 route kilometres of tracks by 2021-22 for over Rs 12,000 crore. The project is expected to result in savings of over Rs 13,000 crore per annum.

While the railways currently has around 5,500 diesel locomotives and as many electric engines, it wants to gradually electrify all the polluting and high-maintenance old diesel locomotives.

“Mid-term rehabilitation for a diesel engine, which generally takes place after the engine has run for half its lifecycle of 36 years, costs Rs 5 crore. For two crore, our Indian engineers are electrifying these and also, increasing their efficiency," the source said.

After long rounds of testing and trials, Indian Railways has already completed electrification of two diesel locomotives and two more are in the process, the source added.

On complete electrification by 2022, Indian Railways' diesel bill will come down to around Rs 1,000 crore from around Rs 17,000 crore currently and its electricity bill will jump to Rs 13,000 crore from 9,000 crore now, the source added.

With regard to the $2.5 billion deal with the US-based General Electric for supplying 1,000 diesel locomotives, the plan is to procure around 100 units per year, the source said adding that these will be fuel-efficient.

While the power requirement for broad gauge will increase to around 3,000 megawatt (MW) by 2022 from nearly 2,000 MW currently on complete electrification, Indian Railways is in talks with states including West Bengal and Odisha for procuring power through open access, which will reduce the cost burden.

The effort is to increase procurement of power though renewable sources such as wind and solar, the source said.