NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways’ dependence on renewable sources of energy for running trains has gone up by a staggering 6,900 per cent over the last five years, data from the railway ministry has revealed.
While in 2014-15, the railways sourced only 0.03 per cent of energy from renewable sources, the number went up to 2.1 per cent in 2018-19. The total consumption of electricity by the railways also has gone up in five years.
In 2014-15, railways used a total of 18,426 million units of electricity to propel its trains while in 2018-19 it used 20,439 million units.
Officials say that the conscious efforts to increase Railways’ dependence on renewable sources of energy to propel trains have been made. The decision to electrify around 28,000 km of railway track at a cost of Rs 27,000 crore will also play a significant part in bettering the energy efficiency of the railways, officials said.