Premium| Listen to this article |
Indian Railways in a major infrastructural boost operated the first passenger train with an electric locomotive till Kamakhya station which falls under the Lumding division of North East Frontier Railway(NFR) zone.
Kamakhya station is next to Guwahati which is the major station in the Northeast zone.
The first passenger train to arrive in Kamakhya with an electric locomotive was Brahmaputra Mail from Delhi. The train travels through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal before entering Assam.
“Brahmaputra Mail today became the 1st passenger train@RailMinIndia reaching NE completing its journey from Delhi to Kamakhya of more than 2000 kms through the electrified territory. DN Brahmaputra Mail also left Kamakhya for Delhi with electric traction. Thus starting a new era," according to a tweet by NF Railway.
“Indian Railways achieved a Milestone in Rail Electrification by commissioning of RaninagarJalpaiguri - Guwahati 382RKM. Brahmaputra Mail commenced maiden run on electric traction from Kamakhya," according to an another tweet from an official Twitter handle from Indian Railways.
Earlier, Indian Railways'Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR)zone has successfully completed the electrification work of a total of 649 Route Kilometer (RKM)/ 1294 Tonne Kilometer (TKM) of High-Density Network (HDN) from Katihar to Guwahati, the Ministry of Railways said.
According to an official release, the electrification work will now connect all major cities of the country with Guwahati on seamless electric traction. This is yet another effort by NFR for capital connectivity by green transportation, the release said.
With the electrification of railway network till Guwahati, Indian Railways has said that it will benefit the common people and overall economy in the following ways:
-Additional Rajdhani express trains can now be introduced for North-East states like Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim.
-15 pairs of existing trains originating/terminating at Kamakhya/Guwahati can run with an additional passenger coach by eliminating one power car, thus improving passenger throughput.
-NF railway have difficult terrain with a large number of graded sections, curves, bridges. Electric traction shall eliminate need for multi diesel locos as higher HP electric engines can maintain higher speed in gradient section.
-Running time between Guwahati to Katihar / Malda Town is likely to reduce by up to 2 hours as trains can now move at higher speed due to better acceleration / deceleration.
-Line capacity enhancement of up to 10-15% shall lead to reducing level of saturation on many of the sections on the NF Railway allowing more coaching trains to run.
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!
