Pending Satna-Katni stretchelectrified amid Covid crisis

Prayagraj: In a major advancement, the 95km stretch between Katni and Satna, the last remaining un-electrified section on the Mumbai-Howrah (via Prayagraj) route connecting Western India with Eastern India, has been electrified.

Though the Howrah-Prayagraj route was electrified in late 60s and Mumbai-Itarsi stretch in phases by 1993, the Itarsi-Jabalpur-Katni-Satna-Prayagraj section had remained un-electrified.

Considering its importance, the Railway Board had sanctioned the electrification of Itarsi-Katni-Manikpur-Prayagraj in 2012-13 at a cost of Rs 866.12 crore.

The electrification of Itarsi-Katni-Satna-Prayagraj section, including Satna-Rewa branch line, has been completed and commercial train operations on electric traction are on.

The electrification of the Katni-Satna section would now enable seamless movement of electric locomotives from Mumbai to Howrah via Prayagraj.

Till now, around 40 electric trains on the route had to cover Katni-Satna stretch with diesel locomotives, leading to delay and a loss of 45 minutes to one hour per train.

The electrification was undertaken during ongoing Covid-19 crisis with workers taking all precautions. The section is now ready for passenger train operations following sanction from Commissioner of Railway Safety.

Two traction sub-stations TSS 132/25 kV at Patwara and Bhadanpur have been commissioned along with six switching stations for feeding electrical supply in Katni-Satna section, informed Anup Mishra, senior PRO, Central Organisation of Railway Electrification (CORE), Prayagraj.

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is also commissioned for remote operation through Traction Power controller at Jabalpur. The GPS mapping of the section has also done for reliable maintenance of overhead equipment.

“This electrification will give seamless electric traction from Itarsi to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction and is very important as trains from south and west going towards east and north pass through this section. It will also cut journey time significantly as the time spent on changing diesel and electric locomotives will be saved,” said Mishra.

The sanction from Commissioner of Railway Safety will enable passenger train operations on the section leading to saving of foreign exchange on diesel and will also reduce the carbon footprint of Indian Railways, he added.