Contributing to energy conservation and environment preservation through its daily operations, Konkan Railway (KR) has now changed all the light fittings in its 91 tunnels to LEDs, thus reducing the carbon footprint considerably.
Konkan Railway’s initiative to improve greenery all along its route has earned it the sobriquet “Garden Railway,” said a spokesperson of KR here on Friday.
The LEDs installed in all the tunnels are 24 W which consume just one-third the energy consumed by 70 W HPSV bulbs but give double the illumination.
This also has resulted in increased safety levels inside tunnels, given the fact that 84 km of the KR route stretch is covered with tunnels.
Apart from this, small initiatives like phasing out of all incandescent bulbs from the railway premises and replacing them with more energy efficient T5 fittings, change of all resistance-type fan regulators used in KR to electronic ones etc., are reaping benefits to KR as well as to the environment at large.
KR has also switched to green energy with installation of solar plants at Ratnagiri and Karmali stations, installing solar geysers at all its running rooms and rest houses.
KR has taken to planting an average of 30,000 saplings per year on its route.
A special type of grass – Vetiveri -- was also planted on the route to hold the soil together.
