The money being wasted on diesel to operate the ever-increasing traffic on Konkan Railway (KR), thanks to red-tape delaying the electrification process of the single-line railway, is mind-boggling even by railway standards.
A recent KR study showed that if all the trains – passenger and goods – that KR had operated between April 2013 and March 2014, had been powered by electricity instead of diesel, KR would have saved Rs 134 crore on energy bill. It spent Rs 269 crore on diesel. That, the study showed, was a straight 50% reduction in energy bills for a transporter creaking with mounting losses.
Why is diesel bill going up?
The diesel bill, thanks to the number of special trains going up by the year apart from the routine ones, has been going up steadily. It was Rs 151 crore in 2011-12; went up to Rs 205 crore in 2012-13 and then to Rs 269 crore (2013-14). As per current estimates, by March 2015, the diesel bill could touch Rs 325 crore.
Why the delay in electrification?
This at a time when a KR proposal to electrify its Roha-Thokur stretch incurring Rs 720 crore is lying dormant with the railway board (since this January). Dna, in its Tuesday edition, had front-paged how electrification and doubling of KR is the only way to get the ailing transporter out of the red.
"The study further showed that the money spent of electrification – Rs 720 crore – could be recouped in five years. But still the proposal is stuck in red-tape, leaving one of the country's most congested and heavily-patronised routes in the red year after year," said a senior official.
Operational challenge
The delay in electrification could also throw up a major operational challenge for railways. Electrification work on Southern Railway's Shorannur-Mangalore route is expected to be completed by next March. The doubling of Panvel-Roha stretch is also expected to be completed by that time, and its electrification by 2017.
"That would mean electrification would have been completed on KR's either ends. It means trains will have to change locomotives, from electrical to diesel, before entering KR territory at both Roha on CR and Mangalore on SR. That will be one huge wastage of time and necessitates having both diesel and electric locomotives for every journey," said the official.
KR pins hope on...
According to officials, KR's saviour could be the new railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, who is from the Konkan belt and is well-acquainted with its problems.
Figures speak
2011-12: Rs 151cr.
2012-13: Rs 205cr.
2013-14: Rs 269cr.
2014-15: Rs 325cr (estimated).
Cost of electrification (estimated): Rs 720cr.
Recoup period (estimated): 5 years.
Time for electrification: 3 years.
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