Chennai, Sept 12:
Southern Railway has completed the electrification of its entire 5,068-route-kilometre broad-gauge network, with the 71-km Pattukkottai-Karaikkudi section becoming the final stretch to be brought under electric traction.
The statutory inspection of the newly electrified Pattukkottai-Karaikkudi section was completed by Southern Railway Principal Chief Electrical Engineer Ganesh on September 9, marking the completion of the zone’s long electrification journey.
With the completion of the project, trains operating across the Southern Railway’s broad-gauge network will no longer require a change of traction while moving between electrified and previously non-electrified sections. This is expected to provide greater flexibility in the deployment of locomotives and improve their utilisation.
Southern Railway officials said the achievement would also help reduce dependence on diesel traction and improve overall energy efficiency. Electric traction is expected to facilitate faster train movement and contribute to more reliable train services across the zone.
The electrification milestone is also significant from a historical perspective. Electric traction was first introduced in Madras on May 11, 1931, making the city the second metropolitan city in India after Bombay to have electric traction.
The 25 kV AC electric traction system was subsequently commissioned on the Madras Beach-Tambaram section in 1968. Since then, electrification has progressively expanded across the Southern Railway network, culminating in the completion of the entire broad-gauge network.
The completion of the final 71-km stretch is expected to strengthen operational efficiency across the zone by enabling seamless electric train operations and reducing the need for diesel locomotives on the remaining non-electrified sections.
The move is also in line with Indian Railways’ broader push towards electrification, aimed at reducing fuel consumption, improving energy efficiency and lowering the environmental impact of railway operations.