More than 75 per cent of North Eastern Railway (NER) routes, which primarily serve the areas of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and western districts of Bihar, have been electrified and would become an almost 100 per cent electrified railway by the end of the year 2022, according to the government .
“After electrification of main routes, the expenditure on high-speed diesel (HSD) has been considerably reduced, registering a saving of ₹361 crores,” a statement issued by the Ministry of Railways on Tuesday pointed out.
Indian Railways is working on an ambitious plan of fully electrifying its tracks by December 2023. Total rail electrification would contribute to the goal of “net zero” emissions by 2030, by drawing its entire electrical load from renewable energy sources, according to plans.
CUF (Capacity Utilisation Factor) based solar monitoring system has been implemented in the NER, which has resulted in 26 per cent higher solar energy generation in this year, as compared to corresponding period of last year with the same installed capacity of 4.72 MWp, said the release.
As many as 31 pairs of trains, which originate or terminate on NER, are running on HOG (Head on Generation) system. HOG technology allows power to be drawn directly from the over-head lines and then used to run devices like lights, fans and air conditioners inside the coaches.
Water recycling plants have been commissioned at four stations with a capacity of 700 KLD a day.
Cumulative loading till date is around 60 per cent more as compared to corresponding period of last year, the statement said. “With the concerted efforts of Business Development Units (BDU) at zonal and divisional levels, 22 rakes of Kisan Rail have been loaded and run from Farrukhabad railway station of Izzatnagar division to North East Frontier Railway,” it added.