Indian Railways completes track electrification between Katihar and Guwahati; details

Indian Railways completes track electrification from Bihar to Assam! On Sunday, the Northeast Frontier Railway zone said it has completed the work of railway tracks’ electrification from Katihar in Bihar to Guwahati in Assam. This will provide seamless electric traction from the national capital to this largest city in India’s North East region. Other than saving foreign exchange reserves spent on high speed diesel (HSD) oil, it will ensure greener transportation as well as reduced carbon footprints, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) spokesperson was quoted saying in a PTI report. The Northeast Frontier Railway zone has completed electrification work of a total of 649 RKM / 1,294 TKM from Katihar to Guwahati successfully.

This way the total High Density Network (HDN) routes (649 RKM) falling under the Northeast Frontier Railway zone have been commissioned with electric traction, the NFR spokesperson said. According to the report, Route Kilometre (RKM) is used to express the total distance covered by a train to reach its destination, while a tonne-kilometre (TKM) represents the movement of one tonne of freight by a given mode of transport. Now, this great feat will connect New Delhi to the city of Guwahati on seamless electric traction. This is yet another NFR’s effort for capital connectivity by Green Transportation, the zonal railway further said. From October 7 to October 9, the inspection of 107 RKM/273 TKM was carried out. Now, passenger trains with a higher speed as well as heavier freight trains can be operated, the NFR spokesperson added.

Earlier this year, in April, the Railway Ministry had said the national transporter had logged the highest ever electrification of rail sections covering 6,015 RKM in a single year during fiscal 2020-21. Indian Railways, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, had surpassed the previous highest electrification of 5,276 RKM achieved in the financial year 2018-19.