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Railways complete 81% electrification broad-gauge network

2022-07-21

The Indian Railways’ ambitious plan to electrify its entire network by 2023-24 is almost complete. The national transport company has successfully completed electrification of 81% of its track, Ashwini Vaishnav, Minister of Railways informed via a tweet. This step will help cut down on the consumption of fossil fuels and save the country hundreds of millions of dollars annually. It is also working on a mission mode to achieve zero carbon emissions. In June 2021, Railways stated that the number of trains that were electric had increased by over 10 times since 2014.

The national transporter is marching towards the mission 100 per cent electrification by the year 2023-24.

Some of the major railway sections electrified by the Indian Railways over the last few years include Mumbai – Howrah via Jabalpur, Delhi – Darbhanga – Jaynagar, Gorakhpur – Varanasi via Aunrihar, Chennai – Trichy, Indore – Guna – Gwalior – Amritsar, Jabalpur – Nainpur – Gondia – Ballarshah, Delhi – Jaipur – Udaipur, New Delhi – New Coochbehar – Srirampur Assam via Patna and Katihar, Ajmer – Howrah, Mumbai – Marwar, and Delhi – Moradabad – Tanakpur.

The Konkan Railway Corporation recently completed the electrification of its entire 741-km route between Thokur and Rora in Karnataka. The line connects Mumbai with the city of Mangalore. In addition, South Central Railway recently announced the complete electrification of various railway lines in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

South Central Railway recently announced that it would be launching an electric rail route between Washim and Hingoli city. This route is expected to provide seamless rail connectivity between Vidarbha and Marathwada region of Maharashtra.