Indian Railways is currently targeting electrification across all possible routes with a massive INR 35,000 Crores plan. Railways form a central part of ensuring rapid transition towards ensuring low-carbon transport. Towards meeting international climate control objectives, there is a requirement to drop unnecessary travel. It is referred to as the ‘modal shift’ -mostly from road and air travel to rail. Most transportation modes require rapid electrification.
Indian Railways, through Indian Railway ticket booking, serves to be both a famous organization and a major employer. It is now geared towards taking the country towards the journey of a reduced carbon future. Quite lately, the Government of India has been making investments strongly in the electrification of the entire rail network. According to the projected plans of Indian Railways, it aims ensuring full electrification by the end of 2023.
As per the latest norms of electrification of Indian Railways, electrification plans will help the Government in saving a massive INR 14,500 Crores (approximately) every year on fuel bills. Between the period of 2018 & 2019, over 5,000 kilometers of the rail network had been electrified. Even after challenges imposed by the global pandemic, India increased the scope of railway electrification by around 37 percent by adding 4,000 km to the entire network. As per the Railway Ministry, the Government of India has achieved around 66 percent of the overall target while positioning itself as the world leader in the field of sustainable rail transport.
What are the Benefits of Electrification of Indian Railways?
Overhead electrification of Indian Railways delivers a wide range of benefits -both in terms of time and cost. Some of the elaborated benefits are:
Conservation of Energy:
The rail-based mode of transportation in the country tends to be highly efficient when compared with roadways. The entire rail network is around 6 times more efficient in terms of energy when compared with the road network. Moreover, the rail network is also 4 times more efficient than roadways. Electrification turns out to be one of the most cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions with respect to train transportation.
It is estimated that for every 100 km, there is annual savings of around 4 million liters of diesel with electrification. It helps in saving around INR 2500 Crores of.
Importance in the Sub-urban Areas:
Electrification is quite ideal for sub-urban areas. It is due to the involvement of advanced braking features and higher acceleration -required for the ease of starting and stopping.
The basic electricity-based components of the rail network are the foundation of the entire sub-urban transport systems -particularly in metro cities. These sub-urban areas are known to contribute around 5 million passengers on a daily basis. These services, including train ticket booking online, have become seamlessly easy and helps in faster train ticket booking
Longer Route Trains and Heavy Freight:
Electrification has made it possible to ensure the plying of longer route trains and heavy freight. In this aspect, two types of locomotives can be considered. This has ensured the running of more than 9000 trains.
There are several tests that are conducted in different parts of the country. It ensures that there is no issue during the implementation stage. There have been major improvements in rail technology -especially the Indian Railway ticket booking, due to the ongoing efforts made by the Indian Railways.
Sustainable Development:
Electrification or electric traction is regarded as the right step towards ensuring sustainable development in the given field. It helps in the creation of a proper infrastructure for facilitating running of trains on effective electric traction. There is no requirement of differentiating the source of generating power -either non-renewable or renewable sources of energy.
It is not far away when percent-based contribution of nuclear, hydro, wind, and solar power generation will keep rising. Rail-based transport with electrification will aim at using renewable sources of energy rather than crude oil.
Modern Equipment:
The advent and implementation of modern equipment has led to a significant reduction in the overall costs. The implementation of high-end modern equipment has improved reliability of the entire power system. Most aspects like insulators and switch gear have also enhanced the maintenance of rail systems. There has been abundant monitoring of the overall performance such that there is no issues with the movement of trains.
Even signaling and communication services have improved. This has resulted in improved visibility. The utilization of underground cables has offered reliable and improved means of communication.
Reduction of Atmosphere and Noise Pollution:
Generation of power by burning diesel oil at the place of use will help in the generation of atmospheric and noise pollutants like sulfurous gases and nitrogen. There are over 50 locos at New Delhi station during both evening and morning timings. You can simply imagine the level of air pollution and atmospheric noise pollution at New Delhi station without the presence of electrification.
Presence of Supervisory System:
There is the presence of a centralized controlled system with the help of a control center through modern equipment and remote arrangements. The data and control-based systems also offer help to the users of the respective systems. There are specific facilities for voltage-centric systems as well as isolation and troubleshooting of the faulty sections.
Indian Railways is moving rapidly towards ensuring optimal electrification of rail-based network. With the help of electrification or electric traction across the rail network, Indian Railways can look forward to saving 80 to 100 billion INR. Moreover, electrification of the rail routes implies freight services with the help of double-stacked containers will be complicated to run.
