Move to avoid shunting and detention en-route. Zones asked to submit plan
Indian Railways (IR) has decided to do away with its current practice of changing locomotives from electric to diesel and vice versa based on whether the train is in electrified or non-electrified territory.
In a letter to railway zones, the Railway Board has advised that passenger carrying trains should henceforth be run end-to-end only on diesel if the train passes through un-electrified territory for a part of its journey.
The Railway Board has asked zonal railways to submit a detailed plan of using diesel locomotives under wires to be implemented by August 30, 2019, until the entire route traversed by a train is fully electrified.
This, the Board felt would do away with shunting at stations where the traction changed from electric to diesel and reduce detention times.
However, the Railway Board has clarified that traction changes could be done at stations where the trains reverse direction.
How the plan will work
For example, the Mumbai CSMT – Bhubaneshwar Konark express would not change from diesel to electric traction at Wadi Jn as is the current practice but at Vijayawada Jn -500 plus km away from Wadi – where it reverses direction to go towards Visakhpatnam.
This would mean running trains with diesel locos under electric traction for longer distances until the whole of India comes under electric traction.
Similarly, Udyan express between Mumbai and Bengaluru will run end-to-end on diesel traction – that is over 600 km in electrified territory as the traction change at Wadi would not be done and this train does not require any reversal.
Interestingly, both the above trains already use diesel locos in electrified territory. This is because Mumbai and Daund as Daund – Wadi section is not fully electrified. Central Railway also does not want to detain trains at Daund for change of traction.
This practice will utilize diesel locos until electrification of all sections on IR is completed. However, it remains to be seen whether the cost of running diesel locos in electrified territory is more economical vis-à-vis change of traction and the ensuing detention at the end of every electrified section – a practice that is prevalent as on date.
Photo Courtesy: Vrijlesh Rai
this policy would impact 12603/04, 12703/04, 12733/34, 17229/17230 + a couple of specials running on GNT-SC route if implemented immediately as changing locos happens at GNT; time to make NLPD-BN electric traction live, CRS inspection was over, trial run was also over; it is not made operational yet.
Probably not, AFAIK.
It was mentioned somewhere, that from 1st Sep 2019 onwards, these trains would run with E-locos, in the HYB-GNT sector, now that CRS inspection is done and cleared. So these trains would qualify for E locos end-to-end, so hopefully they will not be subject to this new policy !!