Tuesday, September 10, 2013: The Indian Railway network is not a usually praised service and it lacks monumentally in punctuality, cleanliness and general ease of travel. Howsoever, the latest moves by the department could finally bring some praise from passengers to environmentalists. For the first time since the railways has been operating for 160 years, the department plans to tap into solar energy to power the coaches.
The Railways has partnered with Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and will be developing equipment that could supply power to air conditioned coaches in some express trains running across the country. Internal lighting and air cooling will then be dependent on the heat of the sun. IIT Madras will be coming up with a feasible model for the same wherein solar power could be tapped by a moving train.
Currently, the Indian rail network is heavily dependent upon grid electricity and diesel to power trains. It is among the largest users of energy in the country. With coal and diesel prices on the rise, the cost of power generation has been rising and is inviting tariff hikes. The industrial sector has been bearing the rise in cost as passengers must be shielded from it. Being a national service, the railways haven’t been able to burden the passengers but as a result have been facing huge losses amounting to millions of dollars. With solar panels however, the main issue will be constant supple of power and a medium of storage.
