New Delhi: All trains coming to Delhi will be on electric traction by December 2019 said Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday. The move will cost the government Rs 12,134 crore.
Further, in the next 2.5 years, all mail express trains and Rajdhani trains will have bio-toilets with air vacuum cleaning system similar to that in airplanes. The Railway officials informed that the electrification is expected to lower fuel bills, improve safety and increase the speed of the trains. The Union Cabinet in September 2018 had approved a proposal for the complete electrification of the Indian Railways in the next four years, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuel and saving revenue for the national carrier.
Officials informed that 118 pairs of trains that include 39 in Phase-I, 60 in Phase-II and 19 in Phase-III, have been identified for the switch-over to electric traction. While 20 pairs of train i.e. forty trains have already been taken over on electric traction in Delhi area. Around 650 trains start, end, or pass through Delhi daily, which handles around 12 lakh passengers every day.