Electrification of railway lines will annually save Rs 13,500 crore: Railway Board Member

Railway Board Member Ghanshyam Singh on Sunday said electrification of Indian Railway will approximately save Rs 13,500 crore annually. 

Singh said that electrification of railway lines is in the process and in due course all the lines will be electrified. Singh said that Rameswaram-Madurai section will be electrified soon.

Stating that electric energy is cost-effective and can be used instead of diesel, Singh added that the mission is to provide a low-cost transport system. 

Singh added that it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal's dream to carry out electrification of entire Indian Railways through indigenous sources. 

"We plan to electrify the Rameswaram-Madurai section. The cost of electrification of the 161-km stretch will be around Rs 158 crore," he told reporters after inspecting the cantilever Pamban bridge, an engineering marvel built across the sea connecting the holy island to the main land.

He also said it had been decided to build a new cantilever bridge with electric traction but as it would take a long time, Railways would first go for electrification of the existing bridge. 

(With Agency Inputs)