Blackout could have hit Rlys harder,only one-third network electrified so far

The collapse of three power grids over the past two days affected as many as 1,100 trains that were running across seven different zones of the Indian Railways

The collapse of three power grids over the past two days affected as many as 1,100 trains (900 passenger and 200 freight) that were running across seven different zones of the Indian Railways. But for the fact that only one-third of its total network runs on electricity,the Railways could have faced a worse situation.

Only 22,000-odd route kilometres of a total 64,000 route kilometres on the Indian Railways have been electrified post-independence (see box). While this means that traffic on the remaining 42,000 route kilometres is still hauled by diesel engines,the main worry for Railways now,in the wake of the power crisis,is that its major trunk routes connecting metros like Delhi,Mumbai,Kolkata and Chennai are all electrified. With a major chunk of its traffic operating on these trunk lines,power outages like the recent ones can completely throw the railway operations out of gear.

What makes matters worse is the fact that the Railways has no power generation capacity of its own and is completely dependent on purchasing power from the states.

Tuesdays blackout crippled train movement in at least five railway zones northern,north central,east central,eastern and south eastern. Two more zones west central and east coast were partially affected too. The net result was traffic disruption involving around 400 trains.

While Mondays northern grid collapse affected only two railway zones northern and north central it brought around 700 trains to a halt,mainly because the breakdown happened at night when a huge number of passenger and freight trains are plying.

Even as the Railways struggles to electrify the remaining 42,000 route kilometres,a bigger worry now following the twin blackouts is to ensure hassle-free power supply to run trains on electrified routes.

As per Rail Bhavan officials,Indian Railways current power requirement is around 4,000 MW per year,and 16.65 billion units is consumed annually to run trains. The Railways annual electricity bill is close to Rs 7,000 crore,paying an average of Rs 4.46 per unit.

Story continues below this ad

The Railways is in the process of setting up a 1,000 MW capacity captive thermal power plant at Nabinagar in Bihar,a 1,320 MW capacity plant at Adra in West Bengal and a 700 MW gas-based power plant at Thakurli in Maharashtra.

Facts in figures

The biggest strides in railway electrification were made during the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12) during which 4,556 route kilometres were electrified. Over Rs 3,461 crore was spent on railway electrification during this period. Before the 11th Plan,the highest railways could achieve in terms of electrification was 2,812 route kilometres during the 7th Plan (1985-90).