Lokmat News Network
Aurangabad: The South Central Railway (SCR, Nanded Division), under its ‘Mission Electrification’, has successfully completed electrification of 143 km in various sections of its jurisdiction.
Out of 143 km, the stretch of 135 km falls under the jurisdiction of Maharashtra state and the remaining 8 km is under Telangana state. The details of electrification works include the Kosai and Himayatnagar section (distance of 82 km) as a part of the Manmad-Mudkhed-Secunderabad and Dhone-Kurnool City-Mahbubnagar electrification project; Rotegaon and Aurangabad section (distance of 61 km) as a part of Pimpalkutti-Mudkhed electrification project.
135 km electrification in Maharashtra
The aim of SCR is to complete the electrification of the entire network in its jurisdiction by the next financial year. In the current financial year, the Zone has commissioned 574 route km of electrification from April 1, 2022, to date. The sections commissioned in the current financial year include Washim – Hingoli Deccan (46.3 km), Kalikiri – Tummanamgutta (49.9 km), Khanapur – Latur Road (98.7 km), Manoharabad – Kamareddi (67.3 km), Aravalli – Nidadavolu (32.8 km), Bhavanapalem - Sattupalli (14.3 km), Gooty Bypass line (3.2 km), Mahabubnagar – Gadwal (72.7 km), New Piduguralla – Savalyapuram (46 km), Kosai – Himayatnagar (82 km) and Rotegaon – Aurangabad (61 km).
Benefits of electrification
According to SCR, the electrification of rail lines will help provide seamless movement of trains by avoiding changes in traction power, reducing enroute detention of both the coaching and freight trains and improving the average speed of the trains. Apart from introducing more trains after capacity enhancement (section-wise), it is also an environment-friendly means of powering the trains and saving fuel costs at the same time. According to the press release, in the last 7 days, the SCR has added 188 km of railway lines to its electrified network.