Guwahati: First Electric Run Of Loaded Train Upto Kamakhya Successful

In another milestone for Indian Railways, the first electric run of a loaded train successfully took place on Thursday morning.

The Northeast Frontier Railway in a tweet informed that Kamakhya station under Lumding division welcomed UP NTSK parcel with an electric locomotive at 9.20 am.

"Another milestone towards a faster and environment-friendly mode of transportation," NF Railway tweeted.

Last week the Ministry of Railways had informed that the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) had completed the electrification work of 649 Route Kilometer (RKM)/ 1294 Tonne Kilometer with a high-density network from Katihar to Guwahati. This will connect Guwahati with all major cities through Electric Traction and will promote Green Transportation, the ministry added.

The final leg of the NFR 107 RKM/273 TKM was inspected and approved by the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) NF circle from October 7 to October 9.

The railway electrification up to Guwahati will reduce the fuel expenditure of about 300 crore per annum, and will allow heavier goods trains to run at high speed. The saved fuel would be used in power cars (about Rs 10 crore on the electrified route itself), the railway ministry's statement said.

The statement mentioned that the NFR has a difficult terrain to run on and, hence, electrification can enable heavier goods trains to run at higher speeds. "Electric traction shall eliminate need for multi diesel locos as higher HP electric engines can maintain higher speed in gradient section. Additional Rajdhani express trains can now be introduced for NE states like Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim," the railway ministry said.