Indian Railways is working at a fast pace with the goal of 100% electrification of its entire network. The North Central Railway, which being an important constituent of Indian Railways, provides vital connectivity to the Eastern, Western and Southern parts of the nation to the Northern part, is also making rapid strides for electrification of its sections.
- It may be noted that important trunk routes of North Central Railway are already electrified, and apart from these, the remaining sections on branch lines are also being electrified at a rapid pace.
- In order to achieve this target of 100% electrification, the 27 km long Unchdih to Meja Thermal Power Plant route connected to the highly congested Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Jn – Ghaziabad section of Prayagraj Division of North Central Railway has been electrified.
- In this sequence, the placement of load in Meja Urja Nigam Power Limited siding with electric power was done on 07.06.2021.
- This rake was placed in the siding of Power Plant from Unchdih by Electric Power No.60003 SRE WAG 12.
- The train reached NTPC via viaduct and after being unloaded was received in the down loop line.
- It was flagged off from Unchdih station at 12:05 hrs on the newly electrified route and arrived at NTPC at 13:15 hrs.
Benefits of Electrification:
- It is to be noted that earlier, rake placement in Meja Urja Nigam Power Limited siding was done with diesel power only, which would improve wagon turnaround.
- This electrification work will not only ensure smooth and faster movement of coal traffic on the route and will also address the problem of traction changing alongwith saving time and energy.
- This work will increase operational efficiency, line capacity and improve average speed of trains.
- Electrification of rail routes will reduce the use of imported petroleum fuels and will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Freight Performance:
Meanwhile, North Central Railways, besides responding to the pandemic through its medical infrastructure, sets new benchmark by recording a 56% increase in freight loading in April-May as compared to the corresponding period of previous year.
- In terms of tonnage loaded, NCR showed an increase of 56% in April-May 2021 as compared to this period in 2020, while in terms of revenue earned, NCR shows an increase of 43% over previous year.
- Cumulative earnings this year stood at Rs 286.44 crores as against Rs. 200.75 crores in April-May 2020.
- Among the commodities registering an upward growth were:-
- Petroleum loading from Rasulpur (near Kanpur, Jhansi Division)
- Cement loading from Chunar and Parichha
- DOC loading from Ramgarh (Agra Division) and Morena (Jhansi Division)
- However, the main trigger in the growth is attributed to container loading from various depots like Dadri, Kanpur (both Prayag raj Division) and Malanpur( Jhansi Division).
Source: North Central Railway-Press Release | Image Credit (representational): MoR
