Transport decarbonisation - India shows the way

 

Electric railway in India: Class WAG9 loco No 31145 at Nagpur on 21 February 2010.
Keith Fender

Based in England, I suspect I am not alone in looking northward to Scotland as a model for how a rolling programme of electrification can be developed. True, it’s a bit quiet on the authorisation front at the moment, but Transport Scotland and its Rail Director Bill Reeve are clear on what they want to achieve and by when.

However, this admiration, and the positivity (short of actually authorising a start) from the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, took a nasty blow when the July issue of Railway Gazette International dropped through the letter box. An article by the Indian Railway Board’s Executive Director Railway Electrification, Bhupender Singh Bodh, contained statistics which were, literally, impossible to grasp.

Of course, with India, you are always talking big numbers. The broad gauge (1,676mm) network covers 64,689 route kilometres.

This is almost exactly four times the length of the UK network.

PILLAR

Want to read more?

This is a premium article and requires an active subscription.

Existing subscriber? Sign in now

I have a subscription but need to register on site…

You will need your print Customer ID ready to set up an account, you'll find this on your welcome email and cover sheet delivered with each print magazine.

Register now

No subscription?

Pick one of our introductory offers