The Konkan Railway will soon take a route to complete electrification of its Railway Network. Indian Railways, of late, are working towards moving away from diesel-powered locos that have an adverse impact on the environment. Complete electrification of this route will reduce carbon emission levels and makes the transport a highly sustainable and eco-friendly organisation.
According to reports, in the next few months, all diesel-powered trains on the Konkan Railway will be non-functional and only electric trains would be operational on this route. The first electric locomotive was run on a trial basis.
The work of electrification on the Konkan railway line has been going on for the last four to five years and now has reached its final stage.
In a first trial that took place between Roha and Ratnagiri, a 25KV current has been commissioned. The testing commenced on February 22, through an overhead electric line. As a result, the locomotive, coach maintenance and other employees were instructed to be vigilant by the Regional Mechanical Engineer, Konkan Railway, Ratnagiri.
After checking the power supply on February 23, a test was conducted on Thursday, February 25 from Roha to Ratnagiri. With this trial run of 203 km gaining a success, trains on the Konkan railway line will now run on electricity.
Meanwhile, in January last year, Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) conducted a trial run of an electric loco on the Thokur-Udupi stretch that has electrified heralding a new era of energising locomotives from the conventional diesel locomotives.
Starting from Thokur, the electric locomotive was trailed by a diesel locomotive to face any emergency. Though KRCL’s Thokur-Bijur (105 km) section is completely electrified, the trial run was conducted only between Thokur near Mangaluru and Udupi, said an engineer of KRCL.
As per experts, complete electrification as announced will bring in immense opportunities to Indian Railways and may help identify ways to reduce the cost to the exchequer. Hence, railways should make all efforts to inch closer towards achieving eco-friendly electrified lines by doing away with diesel-powered locos in a fast-paced manner by 2023.
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