BHATIYA

Western Railway is contributing immensely in the infrastructural development of railways in Gujarat and in the last few years, tremendous boost has been given to gauge conversion, electrification, doubling and other infrastructural upgradationsalong with enhancement of passenger amenities.Western Railway has o­nce again accomplished a great feat of completing the electrification work of the Hapa -Bhatiya section (109 RKM / 133 TKM)of Rajkot division. Shri R.K. Sharma – Commissioner of Railway Safety conducted an inspection of entire section o­n 18&19^thMarch, 2021and speed trial with electric loco was successfully completed o­n 19^thMarch, 2021.

According to a press release issued by ShriSumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway,Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) inspected the newly electrified section of Hapa - Kanalus (High rise OHE uptoKanalus) &Khambaliya- Bhatiya section of Rajkot Division and the speed trial was also conducted successfully o­n 19^th March, 2021with maximum permissible sectional speed of 110 kmph. The work of electrification was undertaken by Railway Electrification (RE) unit Ahmedabad in collaboration with Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd. (KPTL)& Rajkot division. Rajkot Division has nearly five sidings in this section. The completion of electrification work of Hapa- Bhatiya section will provide connectivity by electric traction which in turn will result increase the revenue of Railway by increasing tonnage hauled.

Shri Thakur stated that Ministry of Railways has intended for 100 % electrification of complete Railway route by the end of 2023 in order to reduce dependence o­n diesel.Electrification of every 100 RKM will result in annual saving of four million litres of Diesel. The complete Electrification of entire Indian Railways route will lead to decrease in dependence of Diesel which is being imported from foreign countries and also helps in contain emission of greenhouse gases and air pollution. Further electrification will result in improved handling of Goods and passenger trains due to higher haulage capacity and with excellent speed control of electric engine average running time of goods and passenger train will reduce and hence maximum utilisation of railway assets.

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