Railways’ electrification push reduces diesel consumption by 63%

NEW DELHI: The push for electrification of its network has reduced Indian Railways’ diesel consumption by 185 crore litres annually, equivalent to around four days of India’s total diesel demand. With electrification of railways’ broad-gauge network touching 99.6%, the quantum of diesel use has fallen to around 37% of what it was in 2016-17, officials said.

“As against consumption of 293 crore litres of diesel in 2015-16 — the first year after electrification was taken up in mission mode — 108 crore litres was consumed in 2024-25. It has come down further. Electrification of the railway network has insulated us from the fuel issue that the entire world is grappling with,” an official said. He added that there has also been greater focus on sourcing power for railway operations from renewable sources.

The official said electrification has resulted in the saving of foreign exchange for govt exchequer, which would otherwise have been needed for import of fuel.

Official data show that while only 21,801 route km of Indian Railways was electrified by 2014, in the past 12 years, another 48,072 km have been electrified.

Insiders in the logistics sector said that had railways not expedited electrification of its network, the scenario after the start of West Asia conflict would have adversely affected train operations, both for passengers and freight movement. “Line haul costs, both for transporting passengers and freight using electric traction, are much less compared to diesel — almost one-sixth in the case of passenger movement and nearly one-third in the case of freight,” said a railway official.

The current focus to get power from renewable sources will make railways an even cleaner mode of transport.