The Indian Railways, it is reliably learnt, has achieved electrification of 6,015 route km (rkm) of broad gauge (BG) network during FY21, making it the highest-ever annual achievement.
With this, the previous record of 5,276 rkm worth railway electrification, achieved in FY19, stands surpassed. In FY20, the railway electrification was 4,378 rkm.
Furious pace in concluding months
It is evident that the pace of railway electrification picked up in the last four months (December 2020 to March 2021) of FY21. According to statistics previously released, the Indian Railways had electrified 1,682 rkm during FY21, up to end-November 2020. This gives a monthly average of around 210 rkm. However, in the last four months of FY21, the quantum of electrification leaped to 4,333 rkm, implying a monthly average achievement of around 1,083 rkm,
Earlier targets
According to estimates made before the pandemic outbreak, IR had planned to electrify 6,000 rkm of BG network in each of the years FY20, FY21 and FY22. The target for FY23 stood at 6,500 rkm and that for FY24 (first three quarters) was 4,310 rkm. All said, it is commendable that the level of 6,000 rkm electrification was breached for the first time in F21. To appreciate the overall pick-up in railway electrification in recent years, it must be noted that in FY15, IR had achieved railway electrification of just 1,176 rkm.
Over 70 per cent
It is learnt that as of March 31, 2021, the BG network of Indian Railways stood at 64,689 rkm, including 740 rkm belonging to Konkan Railways. Of this total network, the electrified network stood at 45,881 rkm, or 71 per cent of the total. A little over one-third of the cumulative BG electrification has been achieved in the past three years alone.
According to an earlier report, IR had planned to achieve 100 per cent electrification of its BG network by December 2030. It is estimated that IR would save a whopping Rs.14,500 per year on its energy bills, once its entire BG network is electrified.
Traction Substations
During FY21, Indian Railways commissioned a record of 56 traction substations (TSS) beating the earlier best of 42. In the past seven years, a total of 201 TSS have been commissioned.
(Featured photograph showing a traction substation, sourced from railpost.in, is for illustration only.)
