07 April,2016 09:35 AM IST | | Shashank Rao
In a mere 72 hours or so, the last leg of 1500-volt DC will become obsolete from the Indian Railways. The Central Railway (CR) has received final clearances for the conversion of the Harbour and the Trans-Harbour line to 25000-volt Alternating Current (AC)
In a mere 72 hours or so, the last leg of 1500-volt DC will become obsolete from the Indian Railways. The Central Railway (CR) has received final clearances for the conversion of the Harbour and the Trans-Harbour line to 25000-volt Alternating Current (AC). The conversion is most likely to happen on the night of April 9-10.
Representational pic
The CR had been trying to get the final permissions from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS). "The CRS had asked us to change a few problem areas like a few signal poles and transmission towers at few places so that there is enough margin between them and the overhead wires and it does not hamper anything," said a senior official on the condition of anonymity.
The CR had wanted to do the conversion from the current 1500-volt to 25000-volt in March itself, but were unable to do so due to the pending clearances. The effect on suburban services is yet to be revealed as officials are trying to take a block that will be required for the conversion without cancelling the last local.
"We are trying to avoid cancelling the last local but if we have to then we will not take the Sunday mega-block on Harbour and Trans-Harbour during the day," added the other official. CR's mainline was converted to 25000-volt in June 2015 thus leaving the Harbour the last railway line in the country that still runs on 1500-volt system.
