AC current saves railways

Alternating Current saves Railways Rs18.75 crore Published: Sunday, Feb 3, 2013, 8:55 IST  By Binoo Nair | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Even as diesel prices make a dent in the accounts books of the railways, for Western Railways (WR) one year of running its suburban locals on Alternating Current (AC) has brought about some relief. On Monday, WR will complete a year of running its entire suburban section on 25,000 Volt Alternating Current. It was on February 4 last year that WR changed its electrical traction from the obsolete 1500 Volt Direct Current to 25000 Volt AC. In terms of money, since February 2012, WR has saved Rs 18.75 crores in power bills. The average consumption of electricity to run local trains on WR since converting to AC traction has reduced from 25.08 million kilowatts per month to 23.22 million kilowatts per month. In percentages, power savings come up to 8 percent, said officials. These savings, they added, come despite services being increased by 36 since February 2012 and the augmentation of 76 local trains from 9-coach to 12-coach ones. Speaking to DNA, Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relations officer said, “Energy saving for the railways is critical and the change from Direct Current to Alternating Current has not only saved money for us but is has also helped commuters ... Trains running on AC have more space for commuters. The savings will be more profound ... as newer rakes come in,” said Chandrayan. Officials said when almost all rakes are pure AC ones, WR is looking at savings of almost Rs 53 crores per year.