Southern Railway has made a savings of more than ₹94 lakh by commissioning a 750 volt power supply for the maintenance of LinkeHofmann Busch (LHB) rakes in the washing lines. These 750V power supply lines have been installed in 41 out of the 45 pit lines for washing purposes, leading to the immense savings.
B. Guganesan, Chief Public Relations Officer, said the Railway Board, during an energy audit undertaken with the 2021-22 financial year as the base, found that diesel consumption on testing and maintenance of LHB rakes at washing or pit lines was about 1.84 lakh litres per day in all the railway zones. This cost issue was only found to be for LHB maintenance and not for ICF coaches, and was projected to increase by 20% per annum.
As a solution the Indian Railways allotted ₹210 crore to carry out electricity infrastructure creation in 411 pit lines throughout the railways. As part of this capital work, the Railway Board had found that over ₹500 crore would be saved, and would also cut down on the consumption of in fossil fuels.
At Southern Railway, which has a total of 45 pit lines, 41 pit lines were covered in the first phase, completed in July. The remaining pit lines are to be provided with the 750V power supply by the end of this financial year.
COMMents
SHARE