Indian Railways is working in a mission mode to become the largest green railway in the world and is moving towards becoming a “net zero carbon emitter” before 2030, the government claimed today.

After the completion of electrification in Uttar Pradesh recently, Indian Railways has achieved another milestone by completing the electrification of Uttarakhand.

The existing broad gauge network of Uttarakhand is 347 route km, which is 100 per cent electrified, resulting in saving on account of reduced line haul cost (about 2.5 times lower), heavier haulage capacity, increased sectional capacity, reduced operating and maintenance cost of the electric loco, energy-efficient and eco-friendly mode of transportation with reduced dependence on imported crude oil, saving of foreign exchange.

Uttarakhand state’s territory falls in Northern & North Eastern Railways’ jurisdiction. Some of the major railway stations in Uttarakhand are Dehradun, Haridwar, Roorkee, Rishikesh, Kathgodam, and Tanakpur.  Some of them have religious importance and some are tourist attractive places. Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri, Gangotri, Hemkund Sahib, Mussoorie, Nainital, Jim Carbet and Haridwar are among them. Kathgodam station is an important station with an annual passenger footfall of about 7 lakhs and this terminating station acts as an entry point to the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand. The first train to this station reached on 24 April 1884.

Some of the prestigious trains of Uttarakhand state are: Nanda Devi, Haridwar Express, Mussoorie Express, Utkal Express, Kumaon Express, Doon Express & Shatabdi Express. These trains provide convenient connectivity to various parts of the state and other major cities in India, helping greatly to state in the tourism business.

Further, Rishikesh to Karnprayag, new line work is under construction which will be another landmark achievement of Indian Railways, bringing Char Dham pilgrimage route to Indian Railways’ circuit. This route is sanctioned along with electrification, in sync with Railways’ policy of 100 per cent electrified network.