Electric Traction, Life Line of Indian Railways – Shri P K Srivastava, GM/SCR

The higher level of performance of Indian Railways has been made possible with Electric traction, averred Shri P K Srivastava, General Manager, South Central Railway. He was delivering the key note address today i.e., 3^rd February, 2015 at the seminar conducted o­n the occasion of the “Indian Railway Electrical Engineers Day” at Rail Nilayam Auditorium, Secunderabad. The celebration was to commemorate the first ever electric train run in India o­n 3^rdFebruary, 1925 for 16 Kms stretch of Harbour line between Mumbai (Victoria Terminus) and Kurla. The section was electrified o­n 1500V DC.  

Shri P K Srivastava has stated that the vision of Electrical Engineers in the design of Electric Traction of Mumbai sub-urban section is laudable because it has been serving for the past 90 years, carrying 40 lakh passengers per day at present. This amply proves the worth of Electric Traction which has grown by leaps and bounds o­n Indian Railways through the years, he added.   

Shri Srivastava is himself a distinguished Electrical Engineer who has made his mark o­n the Mumbai suburban rail services by induction of three phase Rakes, completion of AC-DC conversion projects, induction of 9 car rakes. He has immensely contributed to the Mumbai sub-urban system, which is the life line of the city. 

Shri    Srivastava has added that the ‘Train Sets’ are going to be the face changers of Indian Railways in the times to come. ‘Train Sets’ have Motive (Loco) Power o­n both sides of the train for haulage, which has 5 times faster acceleration and de-acceleration as compared to normal trains.   

The General Manager said that 70% of freight and 50% of passenger traffic o­n Indian Railways is being carried o­n Electric Traction, while the fuel cost of Electric Traction is o­nly 40% out of the total fuel bill of Indian Railways of around Rs. 10,000 Crs. This shows the cost efficiency in use of Electric Traction as compared to Diesel Traction, he added. 

Highlighting the performance of SCR, Shri P K Srivastava stated that the Zone is leading among all Zones o­n Indian Railways in terms of its revenue earnings. The freight earnings have increased by over 25% during the current financial year as compared to the previous year. The freight traffic carried by SCR rose by over 10.5%, he informed.

Earlier, Shri J.S.P.Singh, Chief Electrical Engineer, SCR welcomed the gathering and stated that under the stewardship of Shri P.K.Srivastava, the Zone has taken giant leaps forward in the field of Electrical Engineering. Under Shri P. K. Srivastava’s leadership, SCR has taken big strides towards adapting energy conservation methods, he stated. Solar panels have been installed at 100 stations all over the Zone. SCR received a record four prizes in the National Energy Conservation Awards for the year 2013-14. The awards include First prize in Office Buildings Sector, Second prize in Zonal Railways Sector, Second prize Railway Workshops Sector and a Certificate of Merit for Carriage Workshop, Lallaguda.

Papers o­n Energy Conservation Measures were presented by Shri Rajiv Kumar, Chief Electrical General Engineer and Shri Anand Chakkila, Sr. Divisional Electrical Engineer / Maintenance / Hyderabad.