A senior government official stated that by December 2023, the trains will replace fossil fuels with grid electricity at all 411 maintenance pits.
According to The Economic Times (ET), by electrifying all pit lines on its network, Indian Railways hopes to save 200,000 liters of diesel every day.
Pit lines are areas where train compartments are cleaned and maintained in preparation for the next trip.
The trains will replace fossil fuels with grid electrification at all 411 maintenance pits by December 2023, according to a senior government source reported by ET. 302 pits have been electrified.
According to an internal energy and cost efficiency analysis undertaken by the railways in 2022, about 184,000 litres of fuel were used on daily maintenance of Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) rakes at pit lines.
Because there are no electric cables at pit lines, these coaches must operate diesel generators while electrical issues are repaired.
The Indian Railways has authorised the installation of 750 V electrical supplies via grids across all LHB repair pits in order to limit the consumption of diesel, according to the official.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, the railways minister, declared in March 2023 that the railroads hoped to attain net zero carbon emissions by 2030. Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscored this goal earlier this week, when he lay the groundwork for 508 ‘Amrit Bharat’ stations.
When compared to present head-on-generation (HOG-compliant) LHB rakes, electrification of pit lines will save 70-80% of the money. The move is projected to generate more than Rs 450 crore in annual revenue.
The diesel-powered rakes were predicted to have an annual recurrent expense of more over Rs 668 crore, which was expected to grow by 20% due to diesel price inflation and an increase in LHB fleet size, necessitating the shift.