In the current financial year, Western Railway has modified electrical circuits in 34 rakes which is the highest on Indian Railways by a zonal railway
The Western Railway (WR) is continuously working towards contributing extensively to 'Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat Mission through new and ingenious ways. With an increased emphasis on reduction in operation cost of the train, ultimately providing a greener and cleaner environment, the Electrical Department of Western Railway has commissioned 67 locomotives converted to Head On Generation (HOG) System till now, which is the highest on Indian Railways.
According to Ravinder Bhakar, Chief Public Relations Officer of WR, Western Railway has commissioned 67 trains in 3-Phase state-of-the-art WAP7 locomotives in which 25 kV Over Head Power Supply is converted to 750V by 500 KVA converters installed in the locomotives and transmitted through electrical couplers between coaches to meet the electrical load of the train. It is worth mentioning that in the current financial year, Western Railway has modified electrical circuits in 34 rakes which is the highest on Indian Railways by a zonal railway.
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As on January 20, 202, out of the 65 HOG compliant LHB rakes primarily owned by Western Railway, 51 LHB rakes are running in services of 49 regular train pairs trains on the HOG system. Efforts are being made to facilitate the further proliferation of the HOG system and save the cost of train operation by expediting the work of electrification on Western Railway.
Bhakar further added that the HOG conversion work on Indian Railway was first started in the Mumbai Central Division of Western Railway in November 2015, when the first rake of Train no. 12951/52 Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani Express was converted and taken over on the HOG system.
Since then, the HOG rake holding and locomotives have increased progressively. As a result, Western Railway has recorded net savings of Rs 32.22 crore during the current financial year 2019-20 (up to January 20, 2020) and a total net saving during the year 2019-20 is expected to be Rs. 45 crore (approximately). It is worth mentioning that due to the switching over to the HOG system, Western Railway has been able to achieve net savings of Rs 83.06 crore from December 2015 to January 20, 2020.
The savings are on account of a lower cost of electric energy drawn from overhead lines vis-a-vis the cost of energy generated by operating the DG sets installed in power cars. In addition to the savings, there has been a drastic reduction in the consumption of High-Speed Diesel (HSD) oil i.e. 16,696.843 KL which has led to a reduction in CO2 emissions by 44,080 MT and thus helped in making the environment cleaner and pollution-free.
It is truly commendable that with various green initiatives and ideas under its belt, the Western Railway continues to be on the path of guarding the environment by its commitment towards creating a cleaner and healthier environment through its green initiatives.
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