Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) recently completed electrification of the last leg of the high-density network (HDN) from Katihar in Bihar to Guwahati in Assam, a government release said.
The release noted that the final leg of the HDN on Northeast Frontier Railway of 107 route km (273 track km) was successfully inspected by the Commission of Railway Safety, Northeast Frontier Circle, during the period October 7 to October 9, 2021.
With this, NFR has completed electrification of a total of 649 route km (1,294 track km) of high-density network from Katihar to Guwahati. This will now enable connectivity of all major cities of the country with Gawahati on seamless electric traction, the release said. The electrification will also facilitate running of higher-speed passenger trains and heavier goods trains, the release noted.
Indian Railways has embarked upon an ambition plan of electrification of its complete Broad Gauge network by 2023-24 which would not only result in a better fuel energy usage resulting in increased throughput, reduced fuel expenditure but also savings in precious foreign exchange.
According to information available with T&D India, Indian Railways (IR) had around 63,400 route km of broad gauge network, out of which nearly 70 per cent has been electrified.
Major Savings
Apart from saving foreign exchange reserves spent on HSD oil and providing greener transportation in north east, railway electrification up to Guwahati shall lead to likely saving of foreign exchange spent on HSD oil of about Rs.300 crore per year. HSD oil consumption will reduce by about 3,400 kilolitres per month. [HSD = High Speed Diesel]
Also read: L&T Wins Substations, Railway Electrification Orders
Reduced travelling time
Due to seamless train operation, traction change at New Jalpaiguri and New Coochbehar (both in West Bengal) will now be done away with, enhancing mobility of the trains. Running time between Guwahati to Katihar / Malda Town is likely to reduce by up to two hours as trains can now move at higher speed due to better acceleration/deceleration. Line capacity enhancement of up to 10-15 per cent shall lead to reducing level of saturation on many of the sections on the NF Railway allowing more coaching trains to run. Additional Rajdhani express trains can now be introduced for northeastern states like Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim, the release added as a benefit of the subject electrification.
Featured photograph shows overhead railway electrification of a stretch from New Bongaigaon to Guwahati in Assam, executed by KEC International. Photograph, courtesy KEC International, has been used for illustration only.
