NEW DELHI: In a bid to make itself carbon-free by 2030, the Indian Railways has initiated a number of major initiatives to mitigate global warming and combat climate change. In a statement, a railways spokesperson said here that it has completed electrification of more than 40,000 route km (RKM), which is 63 per cent of the broad- gauge routes, in which 18,605 km electrification has been done during 2014-20.
It said that previously, only 3,835 km of electrification work was completed during 2009-14. The spokesperson said that the railways has fixed a target of electrification of 7,000 RKM for 2020-21.
"All routes on the broad-gauge network have been planned to be electrified by December 2023. Indian Railways is focusing on electrification of the last-mile connectivity and missing links. With this in mind, 365 km of major connectivity work has been commissioned during Covid-19 period," he said.
The official said that during the nationwide lockdown, the railways commissioned 99 RKM Katni-Satna section of Mumbai-Howrah route via Allahabad, thus providing an alternate route to Howrah. Similarly, 88 RKM of Pachore-Maksi section on the Indore-Guna-Bina route has also been commissioned, providing an alternate route to Maksi-Bhopal-Bina.
He said that on the Howrah/Sealdah-SVD Katra via Patna route, 45 RKM of Bhagalpur-Shivnarayanpur section has been commissioned.
The official said that the railways has also taken a number of initiatives to promote solar energy. (IANS)