Over the last nine years, the Indian Railways has electrified 37,011 Route Kilometres (RKM) of tracks, the national transporter said Thursday. Between India’s independence and 2014, only 21,413 RKMs of railway tracks were electrified.
However, over the past nine years, the pace of electrification in the country has accelerated significantly, with a record-breaking 37,011 route kilometres of tracks being electrified in the last nine years alone, taking the total electrified routes in the Indian Railways network to 58,424 RKMs, which accounts for 90 per cent of the total, it said.
“Out of the total route kilometers electrified, nearly 50 per cent was completed in the last five years alone. The Indian Railways has set a target to become the world’s largest green railway with zero carbon emissions by 2030. It has already achieved 100 per cent railway electrification in 14 states/Union Territories, making significant strides towards achieving this ambitious goal,” the railways said.
The Indian Railways has also planned to gradually shift towards green energy usage for traction and non-traction purposes, which would enable the country to be Net Zero Carbon emitter by 2030.