New Delhi: With a vision of providing eco-friendly, faster and energy-efficient mode of transportation, Indian Railways is marching ahead towards 100% electrification of Broad-Gauge tracks.
During the calendar year 2023, Indian Railways has achieved 6,577 Route Kilometers electrification. Total Broad Gauge (BG) network of 61,508 Route Kms have been electrified up to December ’2023 which is 93.83 % of total Broad-Gauge route (65,556 RKMs) of Indian Railways. Until 2014, 21,801 KM of broad-gauge network was electrified.
Railway Electrification offers benefits like:
- Reduced operating cost.
- Haulage of heavier freight trains and longer passenger trains due to higher haulage capacity of Electric Locomotives; leading to increased throughput.
- Increased sectional capacity by eliminating detention on account of traction change.
- Environment friendly mode of transport.
- Reduced dependence on imported crude oil thereby saving precious foreign currency.