BENGALURU: The Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) has completed the upgradation of the electrification of the Sakaleshpur-Subrahmanya Road section in the Western Ghats.
The aim is to provide reliable traction power for electric train operations on the route. This will particularly help the Yeshwantpur–Mangaluru–Madgaon Vande Bharat Express, which will be launched by Prime Minister Narendrea Modi on Friday. This will also be the first Vande Bharat service to operate through the newly electrified Western Ghats section.
To ensure that the work was completed in a time-bound manner, a series of meetings and reviews were done by the KPTCL, railways and other departments concerned. Works pertaining to transmission network strengthening, substation capacity augmentation and power connectivity to the railway traction substations were prioritised and done in phases.
According to KPTCL officials, power supply arrangements have been made for 12 Railway Traction Substations (RTSS) through 12 KPTCL substations, involving new overhead lines, underground cables, switching stations and upstream transformer capacity augmentation.
The officials said, the new rail connectivity will make travel between Bengaluru and coastal Karnataka more convenient. It will also help the tourism and hospitality sector and boost local economic activities in Mangaluru, Udupi, Murudeshwar, Gokarna and other surrounding areas.
“Transmission infrastructure has been developed in phases to ensure reliable traction power under the challenging conditions of the Western Ghats. During the Vande Bharat operations, technical personnel will be deployed at key KPTCL substations and connection points for 24x7 monitoring,” said Managing Director Dr Ram Prasath Manohar.
The list of works undertaken include, 4.5km 66kV transmission line for Siddapura, 220kV underground and overhead transmission connectivity for Sakaleshpur RTSS, 2.76km 220kV underground cable for Neralekatte, 110kV transmission, LILO and switching infrastructure for Jokatte, Mulki, Barkur and Senapura, 220/66kV transformer capacity augmentation at Anchepalya and Yachenahalli substations, and improvement of existing KPTCL network support for Murudeshwar, Kumta and Karwar RTSS.