Newly electrified Ratlam-Chittaurgarh railway section inaugurated

Shri Piyush Goyal – Hon’ble Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India dedicated the newly electrified Ratlam – Chittaurgarh section through video conferencing o­n Sunday, 21st February, 2021. Thereafter, a goods train with electric engine was run for Chittaurgarh o­n the newly electrified section. 

• The function was also attended by Shri Guman Singh Damor – Hon’ble Member of Parliament at Ratlam station, Shri C. P. Joshi – Hon’ble Member of Parliament at Chittaurgarh station, Shri Suneet Sharma – Chairman & CEO of Railway Board was present at Rail Bhavan, New Delhi while other distinguished guests along with Divisional Railway Manager of Ratlam Division, senior railway officers, members of passenger associations as well as media representatives were present at Ratlam station.
• While inaugurating the various rail projects in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Piyush Goyal said that 7700 crores have been allocated for different railway projects in Madhya Pradesh in the recently introduced Budget 2021-22 by Hon’ble Finance Minister. 
• Indian Railways is committed to electrifying its entire Broad Gauge network completely by December 2023 and all trains either passengers or goods will run o­n electric traction and will eventually reduce pollution. 
• In the next series, Indian Railways will also be able to run its entire network with the use of renewable energy by 2030 and will be the world’s first biggest railway. 
• This is the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister and Indian Railways is determined to contribute to the country’s progress.
• According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, with an impetus to accomplish Indian Railway’s mission of 100% Electrification o­n all BG routes by the year 2023, Western Railway has taken the o­nus to realize this ambitious target. 
• In this very direction, the electrification of Q-track at Ratlam and Nimbahera – Shambhupura doubling section in Ratlam Division of Western Railway was successfully completed in January 2021. 
• This work has been completed in just 18 months including the lockdown period of six months from Apr.’20 to Sept.’20 due to COVID-19.
• Shri Thakur stated that Ratlam – Chittaurgarh section is an important freight and passenger route of WR. 
• The project was sanctioned in the year 2016 – 17 at an estimated cost of Rs. 205 crores. 
• The total length of the project work is 191 RKM/ 301 TKM. 
• The Traction sub – stations & Maintenance Depots are at Jaora, Sindpan, Nimach & Chittaurgarh. 
• There are 9 private sidings situated o­n this route which are contributing significantly in freight traffic of WR. 
• The electrification work been completed within record time which is amongst o­ne of the best project performances over IR.

Providing Seamless & Speedier connectivity:

• The electrification of the Indore – Ratlam – Chittaurgarh section will provide seamless connectivity & Mail/Express as well as Goods trains can now be run o­n electric traction. 
• This will eliminate the need for traction change over at Ratlam, thus resulting in reduction of detention of engines and wagons at Ratlam yard, thereby decongesting Ratlam yard. 
• Further, it will also benefit in direct connectivity from western parts of the country to Central & Southern parts via electrified Broad Gauge. 
• In addition to this, Western Railway has also completed the work of Gauge conversion of Fatehabad – Ujjain section along with electrification o­n 11th February 2021. 
• This project will provide seamless connectivity between Ratlam to Ujjain & Indore via Fatehabad o­n electric traction and upto Udaipur, Ajmer, Jaipur and beyond from Ratlam. 
• With electrification of these sections, 16 pair of Mail/Express trains are planned to be switched over to electric traction o­n this route o­n Western Railway. 
• Some of these trains were running end to end o­n diesel traction and for others, diesel loco was provided from Ratlam Diesel shed. 
• Now, it will be possible to deploy the state-of-the-art energy efficient 3 phase powerful electric locomotives viz WAP7 o­n this newly electrified section. 
• It will help in speeding up of Mail/Express trains by atleast an hour o­n this section.

Savings due to migration from Diesel to Electric traction:

• The switch over to Electric traction shall result in substantial saving in energy bill and also reduce consumption of HSD oil. 
• The energy cost of hauling 1000 GTKM freight traffic by electric locomotives is about Rs. 27.50 o­nly as compared to Rs. 150 (approx) for diesel traction. 
• Savings o­n account of use of electricity in place of costly diesel fuel will result in savings of Forex. 
• There would be net saving of Rs 9.2 Cr per year o­n passenger services and Rs 18.34 Cr per year o­n freight services for GTKM calculated for existing services based o­n existing cost of diesel with electricity.

Major Advantages:

• Elimination of traction change over at Ratlam, thus resulting in reduction of detention of engines and wagons at Ratlam yard
• Decongestion of Ratlam yard by eliminating power change over, shunting operations etc.
• Faster delivery and clearance of freight in the area
• Direct connectivity from western part to central/southern parts via BG electrified Routes for the benefits of travelling public
• Seamless connectivity upto Udaipur, Ajmer, Jaipur and beyond from Ratlam
• Faster, economical and eco-friendly mode of transport
• Saving o­n account of use of electricity in place of costly diesel fuel

Shri Thakur stated that Electric traction being the most energy efficient means of transportation which helps in maintaining clean and green environment. Western Railway has done highest electrification of 664 RKm o­n Indian Railway during last financial year and is determined to repeat its performance during current financial year as well.

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Source: Western Railway-Press Release