New power on WR from New Year
Saturday, December 10, 2011
By Priyal Dave
In the coming days, commuters travelling via Western Railway (WR) will witness yet another mega block as observed on Sunday, November 13, as the railway administration has confirmed that by January first week, its suburban section will be converted to Alternating Current (AC) traction.
Confirming the same, Rahul Kumar, the new General Manager of Western Railway said, “We have an issue pending before the Commissioner of Railway Safety. In another ten days we are likely to get it resolved, following which the Direct Current (DC) to AC traction conversion will be completed within a fortnight. By the first week of January, the work will be completed.”
The conversion to a complete 25,000 Volt AC from 1,500 Volt DC will aid the administration in increasing the speed of the trains, thereby providing it an opportunity to increase more services and bring down the maintenance of the system. It also helps in saving power, thereby reducing pollution.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety will be reviewing the modification of the six Alstrom rakes before recommending the last mega block for the conversion work.
During this kind of a special mega block, all services are suspended as the electrification process has to be carried out. On Sunday, November 13, a mega block was carried from Khar to Bhayandar to convert the section from DC to AC.
The DC to AC conversion process was started in way back in 2002-2003 under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 1 (MUTP). With new DC-AC rakes arriving in 2008, the administration undertook the conversion work of Over Head Equipment (OHE), starting with Virar-Borivli (2009) and Borivli-Bandra (2011). A total pf Rs.400 crore have been spent on the project.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
By Priyal Dave
In the coming days, commuters travelling via Western Railway (WR) will witness yet another mega block as observed on Sunday, November 13, as the railway administration has confirmed that by January first week, its suburban section will be converted to Alternating Current (AC) traction.
Confirming the same, Rahul Kumar, the new General Manager of Western Railway said, “We have an issue pending before the Commissioner of Railway Safety. In another ten days we are likely to get it resolved, following which the Direct Current (DC) to AC traction conversion will be completed within a fortnight. By the first week of January, the work will be completed.”
The conversion to a complete 25,000 Volt AC from 1,500 Volt DC will aid the administration in increasing the speed of the trains, thereby providing it an opportunity to increase more services and bring down the maintenance of the system. It also helps in saving power, thereby reducing pollution.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety will be reviewing the modification of the six Alstrom rakes before recommending the last mega block for the conversion work.
During this kind of a special mega block, all services are suspended as the electrification process has to be carried out. On Sunday, November 13, a mega block was carried from Khar to Bhayandar to convert the section from DC to AC.
The DC to AC conversion process was started in way back in 2002-2003 under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 1 (MUTP). With new DC-AC rakes arriving in 2008, the administration undertook the conversion work of Over Head Equipment (OHE), starting with Virar-Borivli (2009) and Borivli-Bandra (2011). A total pf Rs.400 crore have been spent on the project.
