BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off India’s first aluminium freight rake at Bhubaneswar railway station on Sunday.
Addressing the gathering, Vaishnaw termed it a significant milestone in the country’s modernisation drive in mass transportation. He said switching to aluminium will significantly shrink the carbon footprint of Indian Railways.
“The silvery-white metal is the preferred choice for metro trains worldwide. The aluminium rake is lighter, cost-efficient and durable. As a single rake of an aluminium freight train can save over 14,500 tonne of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, this is an ambitious plan to modernise freight transportation and enable large carbon savings,” he said.
The aluminium wagons, the Minister said, will help to achieve the target with over 10 per cent (pc) increase in payload while significantly lowering the carbon footprint in line with the Indian Railway’s vision to build a green and efficient railway network.
The gleaming rakes are 180 tonne lighter than existing steel rakes and can carry at least 10 pc more payload, consume less energy with relatively negligible wear and tear to rolling stock and rails.
The bottom discharge aluminium freight wagon, specifically designed to carry coal, is tipped to reduce the carbon footprint measurably. For every 100 kg weight reduction of the wagon, the lifetime CO2 saving is around 10 tonne.
“This is a dedicated effort for the Make-in-India initiative as it has been fully designed and developed indigenously in collaboration with the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of Indian Railways, Hindalco and Besco Wagon,” Vaishnaw added.