Indian railway goes green

Indian Railway, that began its journey in 1853 during the British rule, has come a long way, literally and figuratively, in 150 odd years. It is a multi-gauge, multi-traction system with total track length of 108,706 km. However, only 1/4th of it runs on electricity, rest still consuming humongous amounts of coal and therefore polluting the air as it chugs along. But it looks like the Railway Ministry has finally taken some initiative to reduce its carbon footprint and employ solar power to run the railways. According to this article in Energy Business Daily, "At present, 128 level crossings and four stations in West Central Railway have already been provided with solar panels for electrification purpose."

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