The summer power demand in India is expected to be extremely high this season and the Northern Railways is doing its bit to ensure there are no disruptions by ensuring a smooth coal cargo movement.

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Replying to CNBC TV18 Shobhan Chaudhury, General Manager, Northern Railway, said: "There is a good plan to avoid disruptions to the coal cargo movement, we're monitoring everything closely. There are no disruptions till now and unlike last time we will ensure no power plants run out of coal. Last year, during the disruptions certain movement of trains especially cargo trains was affected, but this time there will be no disruptions at all."

The Northern Railways is satisfied with the cargo performance but hopes to generate more demand. In a reply to CNBC-TV18, Northern Railways GM said, "Cargo is an important area for us and annually we're seeing a good increasing demand. It is correct that movement of vehicles including passenger cars is increasing and we expect more demand from the auto industry. We will increase the infrastructure and will also provide specialised wagons."

The Northern Railways handles 248 MT of freight traffic annually with over 530 locomotives and over 25,000 wagons including over 4500 private wagons. Between April 2022 and March 2023, the loading performance at 67.88 MT exceeded the target of 64.77 MT. Similarly the revenue from parcel movement also jumped 40 percent.

The Indian Railways has set a target of 100 percent electrification of its entire rail network by 2024 and it is on track. Northern Railways currently has 7070 Route Kilometer (RKM) broad gauge network out of which 6070 RKM or 85.95 percent network has been electrified till March 2022. In total, 11 sections of 524 RKM have been commissioned for electrification in March 2023 by Northern Railways and is confident of achieving the March 2024 target.

Currently there are three sections in NR network upgraded for trains with a maximum speed of 160 Km/h. Three Vande Bharat trains are running on the NR Route, New Delhi-Varanasi; New Delhi-Amb Andaura and New Delhi-Katra and these are some of the areas identified for fencing. In total 139 locations have been identified for fencing out of which are 22 priority sections.

Also read: Railways achieves best monthly freight loading of 124 Mt in February

The Northern Railways GM is bullish about achieving various targets by 2024 including the highly anticipated Hydrogen train. The pilot is expected to begin on the Sonipat-Jind section in Haryana & Jind in the future will be the major station for Hydrogen refueling.

The NR Railways GM will be focusing on Railway Safety, Punctuality Loading and Infrastructure Development. The GM also accepts that punctuality for Norther Railways in below the average and will work towards improving it.

(Edited by : Pradeep John)