Konkan Railway completes electrification of entire 741-km route, PM Modi hails achievement

The Konkan Railway Corporation on Tuesday said it has completed electrification on its entire 741-kilometre route between Roha in Maharashtra and Thokur in Karnataka.

The foundation stone for the electrification of the entire 741 kms route work was laid in November 2015. The total cost of the project is 1287 crore. The CRS inspection of the entire Konkan Railway route has been successfully conducted in six phases starting from March 2020. CRS inspection of the last section between Ratnagiri & Thivim was carried out on 24/03/2022 and authorisation was obtained on 28/03/2022

The electrification project has been challenging due to the difficult terrain of Konkan Railway and non conducive atmosphere due to Covid - 19 Pandemic. Moreover due to the extreme monsoon in the Konkan region, special arrangements had to be made at many locations to keep the electrification mission going non-stop.

It is worthwhile to note the numerous inherent benefits of electric traction i.e. significant savings in fuel expenditure of more than Rs150 cr. Seamless operation on electric traction on the West Coast, pollution free mode of transportation and reduced dependence on HSD oil.

Konkan Railway being one of the biggest railway routes on the Indian Railway network, the train operations with electric traction will be implemented on the newly electrified KR route in a phased manner.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated Konkan Railway for completing 100 per cent electrification and termed the achievement a new benchmark of sustainable development.

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister said, "Congratulations to the entire Konkan Railway Team for the remarkable success of 'Mission 100 per cent Electrification' and setting new benchmarks of sustainable development."