Konkan Railway completes electrification of entire 741-km route, PM Modi lauds achievement
30 Mar 2022 11:04:54
Konkan, March 30: The Konkan Railway Corporation said it has completed electrification on its entire 741-km route between Roha in Maharashtra and Thokur in Karnataka. The foundation stone for the electrification of the entire 741 kms route work was laid in November 2015.
Notably, the numerous inherent benefits of electric traction i.e. significant savings in fuel expenditure of more than Rs 150 cr. Seamless operation on electric traction on the West Coast, pollution free mode of transportation and reduced dependence on HSD oil.
The total cost of the project is Rs 1287 crore. The CRS inspection of the entire Konkan Railway route has been successfully conducted in 6 phases starting from March 2020. CRS inspection of the last section between Ratnagiri & Thivim was carried out on 24/03/2022 and authorisation was obtained on 28/03/2022.
The electrification project has been challenging due to the difficult terrain of Konkan Railway, and non conducive atmosphere due to Covid - 19 Pandemic. Moreover due to the extreme monsoon in the Konkan region, special arrangements had to be made at many locations to keep the electrification mission going non-stop.
Notably, the numerous inherent benefits of electric traction i.e. significant savings in fuel expenditure of more than Rs 150 cr. Seamless operation on electric traction on the West Coast, pollution free mode of transportation and reduced dependence on HSD oil.
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Konkan Railway being one of the biggest railway routes on the Indian Railway network, the train operations with electric traction will be implemented on the newly electrified KR route in a phased manner.
Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday, congratulated Konkan Railway for completing 100% electrification and termed the achievement a new benchmark of sustainable development.