Southern Railway bids goodbye to diesel locomotives

KOCHI: The days of the diesel locomotives have come to an end in the Southern Railway Thiruvananthapuram Division with the last of the locomotives making its final run on September 17. From Thursday, the electric locomotive took over, edging out an era. 

The train 12431, which leaves Thiruvananthapuram at 19:15 on Day 1 and reaches New Delhi at 12:40 on Day 3, was pulled by Ernakulam Diesel Loco Shed’s best loco on the final run. This was the last ride of ERNAKULAM WDP-4D, the locomotive engine. From Thursday, the task was taken over by WAP-7 of NR. According to railway sources, the completion of electrification of the Konkan Railway route made it possible.

“The electrification of the 741 km route through the Western Ghats in Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka was completed recently. This paved way for decommissioning the diesel traction,” said the railway sources. Even the diesel loco shed at Ernakulam Junction Railway Station has been completely transformed into an electric one to carry out the maintenance works of the locomotives conducting service in the Thiruvananthapuram Division.

“With this, all the routes in the Southern Railway have become electrified. It is the vision of the Railways to take the green route,” said railway sources. Southern Railway has been taking various steps in line with the mission of establishing 30 GW non-renewable electrical energy generation capacity by Railways to attain a net zero emission target by 2030. 

This will aid in working towards a clean and green environment and also in reducing carbon footprint. 
According to railway sources, only a very few smaller lines (having a length between 20 to 30 km) remain to be electrified.