SANAND

W. RLY CREATED WORLD RECORD WITH 1st OF ITS KIND ACHIEVEMENT BY SUCCESSFULLY RUNNING 1st DOUBLE STACK CONTAINER TRAIN IN HIGH RISE OHE ELECTRIFIED SECTIONS

Photo Caption: The crew of electric locomotive with high rise pantographs which hauled the Double Stack Container o­n its maiden journey from Palanpur to Botad o­n 10^th June, 2020, earning it the record of being the first of its kind in the world.

In continuation with the nation's prestigious mission of 100% electrification of Indian Railways, Western Railway has o­nce again been a pioneer by getting yet another historical achievement as a milestone, by commissioning 1st high rise OHE, which has contact wire height of 7.57metre and is a first amongst all Zonal Railways to successfully run double stack containers in electrified territory. This tremendous achievement isa first of its kind in the entire world and will also boost the ambitious mission of GREEN INDIA as a latestgreen initiative over Indian Railways.With this remarkable development, Western Railway has proudly become the first Railwayto run Double Stack Container train with high reach pantograph in high rise OHE territory, the operations of which successfully commenced o­n10^thJune, 2020 from Palanpur & Botad stations in Gujarat. Shri Alok Kansal- General Manager of Western Rly has expressed his pleasure o­n this historical mile stone despite toughest challenges of corona pandemic & lockdown and has congratulated entire TEAM WR for this marvelous & commendable achievement.

According to a press release issued by Shri Ravinder Bhakar- Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Rly, WR has o­nce again proved its excellence, bycommissioning of electrification of railway routes and has achieved highest electrification of 664 RKM among zonal railways during financial year 2019-20. High rise OHE is provided presently in Palanpur- Mahesana- Viramgam – Surendranagar - Botad and Viramgam – Sanand sections of Western Railway, spanning approx. 375 km route in the state of Gujarat. The normal OHE height in Indian Railway & world over is 5.6 m. However, High Rise OHE height is 7.57m which is meant to run double stack containers i.e literally 2 trains load in o­ne train to carry huge container traffic between Delhi and ports of Gujarat state. Shri Bhakar stated that, initially, there were some technical glitches in running electric trains in high rise OHE territory due to wind tunnel effect o­n pantograph, which collects current from overhead wires. As pantograph has to be raised to height of 3.4m in high rise OHE as against about 1.5m in normal, there were heavy sparks while running train above 60 kmph.It caused serious doubts about the design of high rise OHE and its successful adoption.W. Rly’s technical team from Electric locomotives maintenance and Traction Distribution department joined together and carried out extensive trials, instrumentation and investigated the cause of poor current collection. Thereafter, a very simple solution to run locomotive with front panto instead of rear panto as done normally, was provided to overcome such a serious issue. Now, the high rise OHE and electric locomotives have been cleared for maximum sectional speed of 100 kmph in highrise OHE territory. o­n June 10th 2020, WR operated its first Electric train in Rajkot and Bhavnagar divisions, which had High rise OHE. With this excellent achievement, Rajkot & Bhavnagar divisions of Western Rly have now proudly entered o­n the electric traction map of Indian Railways. The electric locomotive successful hauled goods train KIIP/PPSP (Double Stack Container) from Palanpur to Botad, about 275 km, which was maiden trip of double stack container under the wire, first of its kind in the world. This will go a long way in Indian Rly’s green initiative efforts to curb pollution. With the introduction of electric traction, which is pollution free and energy efficient mode of transport, Western Railway is expected to save about Rs.100 crores per annum o­n fuel expenses.To carry 1000 GTKM o­n electric traction, hardly 4.5 unit of electric energy is consumed, which costs about Rs.25 as against 2 liters of HSD oil costing about Rs.150 to carry same load by diesel traction.Thus, there will be substantial saving in expenses of fuel upon electrification of various sections o­n Indian Railways.In addition, electrification will help in improving mobility of trains being more reliable & powerful, thus increase the line capacity to run more trains in the section.

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