Electrification of Railways

@ Indian Railways achieves 96% Rail Electrification - first for the major nation in the world.
As per Energy Monitor and Indian railways data, Indian Railways are 95 per cent electrified, as compared to 56 per cent in the EU, 38 per cent in the UK and just one per cent in the US.
Switzerland, however, is 99 per cent electrified.
Since 2014-15, Railways have electrified over 40,000 route km on the broad gauge network compared to only 21,80 km in all the years before 2014.
21 states achieved 100% Rail Electrification Twitter

Vande Bharat express

Kerala received the country's first orange white version of the semi high speed train.
as of 2019, the country has 34 vande bharat train operational across 24 states and UTs.

February 2023

When will vande bharat trains be launched?

development and manufacture of 400 new trains in next 3 years
max speed - 160km/hr
reducing journey time by 25 to 45%
use of aluminium instead of steel

Kavach Protection system

Operation Nanhe Farishtey

& 84,119 Children rescued by RPF under 'Operation Nanhe Farishtey' in last seven years
Over the past seven years, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has been at the forefront of an operation named "Nanhe Faristey' - a mission dedicated to rescuing children in need of care and protection across various Indian Railway Zones.
During last seven years (2018- May 2024), RPF has rescued 84,119 Children who were at risk in stations and trains, preventing them from falling into harm's way.
'Nanhe Faristey' is more than just an operation; it is a lifeline for thousands of children who find themselves in precarious situations.
The data from 2018 to 2024 illustrates a story of unwavering dedication, adaptability, and resilience.
Each rescue is a testament to the RPF's commitment to safeguarding the most vulnerable members of society.
The year 2018 marked a significant start for 'Operation Nanhe Faristey.
In this year, the RPF rescued a total of 17,112 children, including both boys and girls.

Greenwashing of Indian Railways

17.12.2024 - The Hindu

@ the 1,676 mm used on the broad gauge of the Indian Railways.

RITES Ltd., the consultancy arm of the Indian Railways, has won two contracts for the repurposing of six broad gauge diesel electric locomotives for export to some African railways.

The Indian Railways, in collaboration with its consultancy public sector undertakings such as RITES and IRCON, has exported locomotives to countries in Asia and Africa in the past, this is probably for the first time that second-hand (used) locomotives are proposed to be exported after “gauge conversion

! ‘Mission 100% Electrification – Moving Towards net zero carbon emission' - Ministry of Railways, February 2021

RTI report - March 31, 2023

There were 585 diesel locomotives stabled (kept idling/stored) in various locations across the Indian Railways’ network due to electrification.

Further over 60% of those locomotives had a residual life of more than 15 years.

Today, the figure is reported to be about 760 locomotives.

Why did hundreds of diesel electric locomotives in good working order with years of service left became redundant? Answer: the policy of the government to electrify the entire broad gauge network of Indian Railways in mission mode, at a frenetic pace.

Justification for electrification of Railways

Saving of foreign exchange by reducing the import of crude oil
Reducing environmental pollution

Busting both myths

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, January 2014

70% of of total diesel oil consumption in the country was by the transport sector.
- Out of which, share of Railways was jsut 3.24%, which further reduced to 2 % in 2021 -2022
- Trucks - 28%
- Agricultural secor - 13.2%

Revenue of Railways

50% of the electricity generated today in the country is through coal-fired thermal plants

$ Coal is considered the dirtiest fuel, environmentally, on the planet.
Indian Railways plays a crucial role in transporting the coal from the pit heads to the thermal power plants.
50% of the Railways’ total freight earnings of about ₹1.7 lakh crore in 2023-24 (revised estimates) was generated by transporting coal for various purposes.
40% of total freight earnings was generated only by transporting coal to thermal generating plants.

Future of Railways

The Indian Railways today has more than 4,000 diesel locomotives
2,500 diesel locomotives are proposed to be retained by the Railways for “disaster management and strategic purposes"
Another nearly 1,000 locomotives will continue in service for the next few years to meet traffic commitments.
That is, 100% electrified “green’’ railway will continue to use about 3,500 “dirty diesels” in the foreseeable future

April 2024

100 day plan post LS polls

Indian Railways is gearing up for a 100-day plan post Lok Sabha polls 2024.

24 hour ticket refund scheme.
a "Super app" for passengers.
Vande Bharat sleeper train launch.
India's first vertical lift rail bridge.
Launch of Udhampur-Baramuala rail link.

August 2024

The government announced (in 2019) the ambitious merger of 8 railways services into one single civil service - Indian Railways Management Service (IRMS), in a bid to have a leaner bureaucracy and reduce departmentalism, the reform seems to be unravelling as a result of a crippling shortage of officers with technical expertise.

Now, in 2024, the government is considering the demerging the unified service once again into technical and non technical services in a bid to address the purported shortage of officers with technical expertise and officers getting into through IRMS are mostly generalists and not cut out for core engineering operations.

The discussions of a possible rollback to the earlier system have become a cause of concern for the probationers recruited in 2022 and 2023. The basis for their concern is the letter from the railway ministry dated 12 July, which states that probationers of the IRMS, who have been recruited in 2022 and 2023, along with those who will be recruited in 2024, will now only be given training in non-technical domains.

The probationers, who are undergoing training after their selection for IRMS in 2022, (government did not recruit officers to the railways in 2020 and 2021) said, "This would be completely antithetical to the historic reform of the Union Cabinet chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, of unification of erstwhile eight services of Indian Railways, and is against the vision of creating an efficient organisation capable of delivering upon the expectations of 21st century aspirational India".

Before the merger, the non technical civil services had 3 branches,

Indian Railway Accounts Services (IRAS)
Indian Railway Traffic Services (IRTS)
Indian Railway Personnel Services (IRPS)

The technical civil services had 5 branches

Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRES)
Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE)
Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME)
Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE)
Indian Railway Stores Services (IRSS)

UPSC recruited officers for the non technical services through civil service exams along side with IAS, IPS, IFS, and for the technical services through Indian Engineering Services (IES) exam. After the merger, officers for both the services are recruited through civil services examination.

An internal presentation was made in the railway ministry to induct engineers with technical knowhow under a Bharatiya Rail Technical Entry Scheme. Students were to be inducted in the Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya in Gujarat on the basis of their Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) score, and then given a degree in railways engineering along with training under this scheme.

In December 2022, the government notified a separate exam for the IRMS, for which only those with engineering, commerce and accountancy degrees were eligible. This was done to ensure that those who were recruited in the railways were not “generalists”, and had technical expertise, sources said. According to the notification, 150 IRMS officers were to be recruited through the new examination. Just two months after the notification, it was rolled back because there was no clarity on the syllabus and curriculum for the exam. Print

September 2024

Rail Rakshak Dal

Railway establishes 'Rail Rakshak Dal' for quick response amid rising train accidents and Sabotage.
The Indian Railways has announced the formation of Rail Rakshak Dal in the North Western Railway zone as a part of a pilot project amid rising number of train accidents.
The Rail Rakshak Dal is capable of reaching the accident site promptly and conducting rescue operations.

November 2024

New Delhi - Srinagar Vande Bharat in 2025

Ready for kashmir, New Delhi-Srinagar Vande Bharat train is set to launch in January 2025. Will cover a distance of 800 km in less than 13 hours.
Will leave from New Delhi at 7 PM and arrive in Srinagar by 8 AM.
Main stops at major stations like Ambala, Ludhiana, Jammu & Katra.

Cabinet approves the Railways multi tracking projects

aims to increase the existing network by about 639 kms
enhance connectivity to 2 aspirational districts - Khandwa and Chitrakoot
enhance connectivity along Mumbai - Prayagraj - Varanasi route
promote tourism through improved acces to UNESCO world heritage sites.

India to make its own bullet trains

Indian government has decided to make its own bullet trains that can run up to 280 kmph instead of purchasing Japanese Shinkansen.
The train is set to connect the 508 km Mumbai Ahmedabad
The first train is expected to run between Surat and Bilimora in 2026.

August 2025

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji is set to travel by the Shinkansen High speed rail network to Sendai
The Mumbai Ahmedabad Shinkansen project launched in 2017
This was originally billed at $17billion , a major venture for both countries

December 2024

First made in India bullet train by 2026

The first made-in-India bullet train in India aimed to be rolled out by December 2026: BEML

January 2025

Upgraded 23,000 track kilometers

Indian Railways has upgraded over 23,000 track kilometers (TKM) of the Indian Railways network to support train speeds of up to 130 kilometres per hour (kmph).

February 2025

SwaRail super app

Indian Railways has officially launched its much-awaited ‘SwaRail’ Super App
One stop solution for multiple railway services.
- Ticket Booking
- General Tickets
- Platform Tickets
- Running Status
- Catering
- Rail Madad

The beta version of the app is available in iOS and Android.

Vishakapatnam division, Indian Railways - Budget, 2025

The Waltair division of the South Coast Railways was renamed as Vishakapatnam division.
Andhra pradesh got a new zone - "South Coast Railway Zone", created as per the Andhra Pradesh Reoorganisation Act, but lost a few places to the Rayagada division in the East coast railways.
The exact jurisdiction will be decided after the preparation of a revised detailed project report (DPR).
New Division in the East Coast Railway was created - Rayagada Railway Division

Stampede in NDLS

▪️ Death toll rises to 18 in Delhi station stampede, including 14 women. ▪️ More than 3 Lakh posts are vacant in Indian railways ▪️ More than 50,000 post in Railway Forces are vacant ▪️ More than 2.6 Lakh posts in safety category of Indian railways is vacant

Kolkata model

The passengers are made to form a queue and board the train one by one
even in unreserved compartment too, the RPF is there, and only sitting capacity of the passengers are allowed to enter
in every station, the RPF and TTR comes to check and send the passengers without confirmed ticket to other compartments

Metro network in India

March 2025

To decongest the stations

Only confirmed ticket holders will be allowed to enter platforms at 60 railway stations.
Those without a ticket or with a waiting list ticket will wait in the outside waiting area.
Passengers will only be allowed onto platforms when their trains arrive.
All unauthorised entry points at stations will be sealed.

924 kms route in the Western sector of India

India's first vertical lift bridge

PM Modi to open India’s first vertical lift Pamban railway bridge at Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, on April 6th.

98% of broad gauge electrified under National Electrification Project

Double the distance electrified

Since 2014, 45,922 kms electrified , which is more than double than that was electrified in the previous six decades.

23 states electrified

23 states and UTs have reached full electrification.
The remaining areas are in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Assam.

Less CO2 emission compared to road transport

Road transport emits 101 grams of CO₂ per tonne per kilometer, rail transport generates only 11.5 grams, an 89 per cent reduction.

Advantages of Electrification

Electrification enables better haulage capacity and higher train speeds, leading to reduced travel time and enhanced efficiency.

Reduction in fuel consumption

IR has witnessed reduction in fuel consumption for traction purpose by 136 crore liters during 2023-24 as compared to 2018-19

Formation of project monitoring group (PMG)

To expedite railway electrification work, various steps have been taken by Indian Railways which include among others; formation of Project Monitoring Group (PMG) portal to resolve the constraints being faced during commissioning, ensuring effective project monitoring mechanism, assured funding and enhanced financial powers to field units Swarajya

April 2025

4X increase in metro rail expansion

![obsidian|200][photo_2025-10-21_15-47-36.jpg]

July 2025

Privatising general ticketing system

Indian railways is set to close counters issuing general tickets (non reserved travel) withdrawing permanent staff from these roles.
In their place, more private agencies will be brought in to handle unreserved ticket sales.
As a part of this, Mobile UTS assistants are being deployed at selected stations to issue unreserved tickets.
The primary objective is to reduce the number of general ticket counter staff and reassign them to other departments.

Private agencies already in operation

Jan Sadharan Ticket Booking Sevak (JTBS) counters have been prominent since 2019.
Automatic Ticket Vending machines were installed within stations. Retired railway staff have taken up these units on contract and manage them.
Station Ticket Booking Agents were introduced and many stations across Kerala now operate under this model. These agents earn through commission based system.

Railways' DOGE

To downsize the staff by converting the passenger reservation system counters, which handled tatkal bookings, into Integrated Unreserved Ticketing system (IUTS) counter. These serve as reservation counters during fixed hours and function as regular UTS counters thereafter. Mathrubhumi

December 2025

Indian railways announces major upgrades and expansions

Doubling drawing capacity in 48 cities by 2030

Invoice expanding coach terminals
adding platforms
stabling lines
creating new terminals

Focus on green and safer rail operations

Safety protocol se related to the lowest number of train accidents in 2 decades with only 11 incidents reported between April and November 2025.

Landmark projects completed in 2025

Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla rail link - world's highest railway Arch bridge
New pamban bridge - India's first vertical lift railway sea bridge
Bairabi Sairang broad gauge line in Mizoram
Connecting Aizawl to India's rail network for the first time MSN