Central Organisation for Railway Electrification

1500 V DC

Railway electrification in India began with the first electric train (1500 V DC), between Bombay Victoria Terminus and Kurla on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway's (GIPR) Harbour Line, on 3 February 1925.^[5][6] Steep grades on the Western Ghats necessitated the introduction of electric traction on the GIPR to Igatpuri on the North East Line and to Pune on the South East Line. 1500 V DC traction was introduced on the suburban section of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway between Colaba and Borivili on 5 January 1928, and between Madras Beach and Tambaram of the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway on 11 May 1931,^[5] to meet growing traffic needs. The last sections of 1500 V DC in India, from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai to Panvel and Thane to Vashi, were upgraded to 25 kV AC in April 2016.^[7]

3000 V DC

The electrification of the Howrah-Burdwan section of the Eastern Railway zone at 3000 V DC was completed in 1958. The first 3000 V DC EMU service began on the Howrah-Sheoraphuli section on 14 December 1957.^[5] The last section of 3000 V DC in India, from Howrah to Burdwan, was upgraded to 25 kV AC in 1968.^[8]

25 kV AC

25 kV AC railway electrification emerged as an economical form of electrification as a result of research and trials in Europe, particularly on French Railways (SNCF). Indian Railways decided to adopt the 25 kV AC system of electrification as a standard in 1957, with SNCF as their consultant in the early stages,^[5][6] later taken over by the "50 c/s Group". The joint venture was founded in 1954 by several European railway manufacturers and was dedicated to the development and construction of locomotives powered by 50 Hz alternating current.^[9] It arranged the supply contracts for the WAM-1,^[10] WAG-1^[11] and WAG-3^[12] locomotives and their spare parts.

The first section electrified with the 25 kV AC system was Burdwan–Mughalsarai in 1957, followed by Tatanagar–Rourkela. Both of these sections were used for tests.^[6] The first section electrified for operational use was Raj Kharswan–Dongoaposi, on the South Eastern Railway zone, selected due to heavy freight traffic.^[6] The first electric train ran over this section on 15 December 1959.^[6][13] The first 25 kV AC EMUs, for Kolkata suburban service in Sealdah division, was introduced in 1963-4.^[5]

Organisation

The electrification office was established in Kolkata as the Project Office for Railway Electrification (PORE) in 1951 when electrification of the Howrah–Burdwan section of the Eastern Railway began. A general manager headed the Railway Electrification Organisation, established in Kolkata in 1959. In 1961, the Northern Railway zone electrification office (headed by an engineer-in-chief) was established in Allahabad for the electrification of the Mughalsarai–New Delhi section. Following the 1978 J. Raj Committee report, several electrification projects were included and a railway-electrification headquarters was established. Since most of the electrification projects at the time were in Central India and South India, the electrification headquarters was established in Nagpur under an additional general manager from 1982 to 1984. The headquarters was moved to Allahabad under the additional general manager in January 1985 and was renamed Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE). A general manager was appointed in July 1987.^[5]

Electrification progress

The rate of electrification reached around 45% by 2015, when Indian Railways' Railway Board established its Environment Directorate for the coordination of environmental initiatives, resulting in a significant increase in the rate of electrification.^[14] In 2018, India's government set a target of achieving 100% electrification, with budget allocated for the task, and an initial target for completion in fiscal year 2021-2.^[15][2] The next year, IR set up a plan to achieve this goal in five fiscal years, with an aim to complete the project by December 2023.^[3] In December 2023, the target date was revised to the end of the 2023-4 fiscal year^[14] and later to the end of the 2024-5 fiscal year.^[16]