Freight trains operating to and from Karaikal Port are set to be hauled by electric locomotives as overhead electrification works taken up on the port siding have been completed.
The Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE), which executed the electrification project, has energised the five-km siding.
Trial run of an electric loco on the stretch from Nagore to Karaikal Port was successfully conducted on Monday, a senior railway official told The Hindu.
The siding is a separate broad gauge line that branches out near Nagore railway station. It belongs to Karaikal Port and the electrification cost around ₹4 crore.
CORE, which has been entrusted with the task of electrifying Tiruchi-Thanjavur-Tiruvarur-Nagore-Nagapattinam-Karaikal broad gauge section, took up overhead electrification work on the siding only a month ago.
The project has been completed swiftly since it it a small stretch. Over 100 electric masts have been installed along the route. Power will be drawn from the newly commissioned substation at Thanjavur railway junction as part of the overhead electrification works on Tiruchi-Karaikal BG section.
Ahead of operation of electric loco-hauled freight trains, port officials have to be sensitised to the working of the energised section, the official said.
At present, all freight trains are being hauled by diesel locomotives on the port siding, which falls under Tiruchi Railway Division. Coal is a major commodity that makes its way from the port to different destinations.
CORE is simultaneously carrying out electrification of 10-km separate broad gauge railway line from Nagapattinam to Velankanni. Foundation works will be completed within a month and overhead electrification is expected to be completed by August.
Sanction has been accorded by the Railway Board, New Delhi, for electrification of the 10-km Nidamangalam-Mannargudi broad gauge section, which falls in the fertile delta region, to facilitate transport of rice.