Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Parliament that about 98% of India’s broad gauge railway network has been electrified, and work on the remaining sections has already started.

He compared the progress before and after 2014:

• Before 2014: In 60 years after independence, only 21,801 km of railway tracks were electrified.
• From 2014 to February 2025: 45,922 km of railway tracks have been electrified.

He also said that all states and union territories except Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa, and Assam have achieved 100% electrification.

Benefits of Railway Electrification

The minister highlighted several advantages of electrification:

• Less dependency on fossil fuels (reduces diesel consumption).
• Lower carbon emissions, making railways more environmentally friendly.
• Increased speed and efficiency of trains, reducing travel time.

He also shared an important statistic: Indian Railways saved 136 crore liters of fuel between 2018-19 and 2023-24 by using electric traction.

Changes in Railway Commercial Department

The Railway Board has identified sensitive positions in the traffic transport and commercial departments across all 17 railway zones.

• Officials in key commercial roles will now have a fixed tenure of 3 years.
• This includes Principal Chief Operations Manager (PCOM) secretaries and Principal Chief Commercial Manager (PCCM) secretaries.
• Employees working in traffic and commercial inspection roles will also be rotated regularly.

The Railway Board has asked all regional railway zones to implement these changes by April 30, 2025.

These steps aim to increase transparency, improve efficiency, and prevent corruption in railway operations.