New Delhi, Dec. 8: Preliminary economy studies carried out by the Railway Board have indicated that taking into account all factors, it would not be prudent for the railways to revert to steam traction. Steam locomotion requires much higher capital investments in line capacity expansion and servicing and maintenance facilities to keep up the higher hauling power of the diesel and electric locomotives.
While it is economical to revive production of steam locomotives, the study says there is decidedly a case for extending the life of the existing system fleet by rehabilitation and further maintenance. Consequently it has been decided to curtail drastically the condemnation of old steam locomotives for the present except those earlier non-standard versions which are under-powered for to-day’s requirements.
So far as electrification is concerned, it is now realised that the heavy investments in electrification, which were hitherto justifiable only at very high traffic densities, can now be viable for sections with somewhat lower traffic densities. However, apart from electrification being a time-consuming process, the shortage of funds acts as a constraint on a too rapid acceleration of the electrification programme. Also, says the study, electrification of sections has to be matched with the availability of power and electric locomotives. Compared to a target of 1,200 route kilometres for the Fourth Plan, it has been decided to step up the pace of electrification to about 1,800 additional kilometres during the Fifth Plan.
Published – December 09, 2024 02:20 am IST