161 km Madurai–Rameswaram railway line to be electrified

Madurai

To assess the feasibility of railway electrification from Madurai to Rameswaram, the inspection was made. The cost of electrification of this 161 km section between Madurai and Rameswaram will be around Rs 158 crore, he added.

“It was the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal, to carry out electrified traction of the entire Indian Railways through indigenous sources. Electric energy is cheaper when compared to diesel traction. Indian railway has made huge savings of Rs 13,500 crore per annum by opting electrified traction instead of diesel traction. Hence, there will be further savings as more and more diesel traction would be replaced with electrified traction on Indian Railways,” Singh said.

There were some constraints for electric traction on Scherzer’s span portion of the Pamban railway bridge due to existing limited clearances. Meanwhile, the member of traction instructed southern railway officials to conduct few experimental trials and take measurements to study further for them to take solutions.

Responding to queries, he said plans were underway for construction of entire new bridge. “Since the construction of the entire new bridge would take time, the electrified traction would be provided on the existing bridge itself,” he said.