Indian Railways to become 'net zero' carbon emitter by 2030 - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Indian Railways to become 'net zero' carbon emitter by 2030.

• Railways will be an integral part of the Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’ path towards climate justice, Goyal said

• He added by 2023, Indian Railways will be 100% electrically run, the first such railways system of its size in the world to do so
As part of India’s strategy to combat climate change, Indian Railways will become "net zero" carbon emitter by 2030, said railways and commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday.
India is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, and is among countries most vulnerable to climate change.
Meanwhile, the national carrier has a rail network of around 125,000km, making it the world’s largest railway network under a single management. It also has large tracts of land along its network, which will be used to set up solar power generation capacities.
As the country prepares to curb pollution and cut its dependence on foreign oil, India has become one of the top renewable energy producers globally with ambitious capacity expansion plans. The country has an installed renewable energy capacity of about 80 gigawatts (GW) and is running the world’s largest renewable energy programme, with plans to achieve 175GW by 2022 and 500GW by 2030, as part of its climate commitments.
Speaking at the India Energy Forum by CERAWEEK, Goyal said while there may be challenges, the net total consumption will be all green.
“We have had discussions, we welcome it," said power and new and renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh at the same conference.
This assumes significance given that with a requirement of about 12 billion units of electricity a year, Indian Railways’ power consumption has been growing at an average 5% a year. The railways plans to source 10% of its electricity needs through renewable energy sources by 2020.
Railway infrastructure will need an overall investment of Rs50 lakh crore between 2018 and 2030. The investment will also help bring down logistic costs. India has been grappling with high logistics costs of 16-18%, making its exports uncompetitive vis-а-vis China, which has lower logistics costs of 8-10%.
Goyal added that by 2023, Indian Railways will be 100% electrically run, the first such railways system of its size in the world to do so.
Indian Railways employs a staggering 1.4 million people. It runs around 20,849 trains daily and transports 23 million passengers and three million tonnes of freight. It operates 10,773 locomotives, 63,046 coaches and 245,000 wagons.
From electrification of 610 route km in 2013-14, the railways has completed electrification of 4,087 route km in 2017-18. A complete electrification of Broad Gauge Routes of Indian Railways is targeted by 2021-22.
Railways will be an integral part of the Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’ path towards climate justice, Goyal said.
This comes at a time when India’s emerging green economy is expected to require investments of around $80 billion till 2022, growing more than threefold to $250 billion during 2023-30.


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Indian Railways to become 'net zero' carbon emitter by 2030.

Indian Railways is building world's highest railway line - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Indian Railways is building world's highest railway line.

Once complete, the Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail line will reduce travel time between New Delhi and Ladakh from 40 hours to 20 hours.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Indian Railways is building rail line to Leh along India-China border
• The rail line will have 30 stations on the 465 km-route
• About 52 per cent of journey would be covered through tunnels
Indian Railways is moving fast to connect Ladakh with New Delhi through rail lines by expediting work on the strategically significant Bilaspur-Manali-Leh broad-gauge rail line. The location survey of the first phase is complete. The final location survey is expected to be completed in 30 months after which a detailed project report will be finalised.
Railways has proposed it to be declared a national project. It is the most difficult project undertaken by the railways till date given the terrain over which the tracks have to be laid. Railways has suggested that construction on a 51 kilometre stretch between Upshi in Himachal Pradesh and Phe in Leh should begin immediately.
10 things to know about Ladakh railway project
1) The Bilaspur-Manali-Leh railway line is estimated to cost Rs 83,360 crore. It is a 465-km railway line. It would be the highest railway tracks in the world when complete. At its highest point, the tracks would be at 5,360 metres above sea level. It is comparable only to the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Line in China, which is at a height of around 2,000 metres above sea level.
2) There would be 30 stations on the new line taking Railways closer to India-China border in Ladakh. The important locations to be connected en route between Bilaspur and Leh are Sundernagar, Mandi, Manali, Keylong, Koksar, Darcha, Upshi and Karu in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
3) This line is expected to help the armed forces, boost tourism and give a major push to development in Ladakh region. If the Railways' proposal of it declaring a national project is accepted by the government, the Centre would be providing most of the funds making the job easier.
4) Of total 465 km length, 52 per cent would go through tunnels, the longest of which would be 27 km long. Total length of the tunnels would be 244 km. According to the first phase of the survey, the railway line will have 74 tunnels, 124 major bridges and 396 minor bridges.
5) The railway line connecting Bilaspur with Leh would emerge from Bhanu Palli railway station on the Anandpur Sahib route. It is a rugged terrain in an area that is prone to landslides. Oxygen level reduces at this altitude and temperature drops to sub-zero levels.
6) According to Chief Administrative Officer (Construction) of Northern Railway Alok Kumar, the Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail line project is more difficult than the one undertaken by the department in Jammu and Kashmir previously.
7) The final location survey is being undertaken at a cost of Rs 457.72 crore, he said. It would be completed in three phases - digital evaluation of elevation model, selection of path for better alignment and geographical survey for bridges and tunnels.
8) When complete, trains on Bilaspur-Manali-Leh line would run at a speed of 75 kmph. It will reduce the distance between Delhi to Leh from the present 40 hours to 20 hours.
9) BJP MP from Leh Thupstan Chhewang had written a letter to the Minister of Railways seeking the Ladhak railway project to be accorded the status of a national project.
10) The 51-km stretch between Upshi and Leh has a gentle gradient compared to the rest of the project. It is likely to take two years for completion with an estimated cost of Rs 5,000 crore.


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Indian Railways is building world's highest railway line.

Ministry of Railways launches “Digital Screens” to spread awareness about Indian Railways Heritage - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Academy.

Ministry of Railways launches “Digital Screens” to spread awareness about Indian Railways Heritage.

Digital Screens are operational at 22 Railway Stations from Independence Day.QR code based posters on Railway Heritage are also being displayed at these stations.

In the wake of Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision for creating digital museums at stations using QR code, Ministry of Railway has made “digital screens” operational at 22 stations on this Independence Day (15.08.2018) as an innovative low cost solution to spread awareness among public about the opulent heritage of Indian Railways.
Being initiated on a pilot basis, the project aims at showcasing the legacy of Indian Railways through one to two minute-long movie clips on digital LED screens at the entrance gate of railway stations and also at different comfort areas. The short films will showcase heritage buildings, locomotives and much more to make people aware of the rich heritage of Indian Railways. For now, the digital screens have been set up at New Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Howrah, Sealdah, Jaipur, Agra Cantonment, Coimbatore, Lucknow, Varanasi and other railway stations.
In addition, QR code based posters on Railway Heritage are also being displayed at these stations. Passenger can scan the QR code on their mobile to view a streaming video on their mobile on various facades of Railway heritage.
Barring New Delhi and Howrah, where dedicated heritage video walls are being installed, Railways have spent no extra money and have used the existing infrastructure such as the LED screens, back end systems etc. for launching this unique initiative.(Source: PIB)


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Ministry of Railways launches “Digital Screens” to spread awareness about Indian Railways Heritage.

Indian Railways Cleanliness Survey Report: Jodhpur Cleanest Station, Varanasi Slips In Ranking - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Indian Railways Cleanliness Survey Report: Jodhpur Cleanest Station, Varanasi Slips In Ranking.

The cleanliness survey of the Railway stations was conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI) covering 407 major railway stations -- 75 in A1 category and 332 in A category stations.

Jodhpur and Marwar in Rajasthan were declared the cleanest railway stations, while Varanasi, the prime minister’s Lok Sabha constituency, slipped to the 69th position in the third cleanliness survey released on Monday (August 13). Releasing the survey report, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said: “Jodhpur has emerged as the cleanest station in A1 station category. Last year, Vishakaptnam was at the first spot,” he said. He said Rajasthan capital Jaipur is at number two and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh at number three.
In the last survey, Jodhpur was at the 17th spot, while Jaipur and Tirupati were at the 18th and 19th spot respectively.
The railway station in Varanasi, which was ranked at 14th position in 2017, slipped to 69th spot this year, among the 75 busiest stations in the country.
Mathura railway station was declared the dirtiest station in the A1 station category.
Darbhanga, which was declared as one of the most dirtiest stations in 2017, this year was placed at 52nd place.
In the A1 category stations, Anand Vihar railway station in Delhi retained its spot of the 5th position, while Nizamuddin and Old Delhi stations slipped to 54th and 60th positions. Last year, Old Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin were positioned at 23rd and 24th place.
Clean toilets at platforms, clean tracks and dustbins at stations were some of the criteria for judging railway stations for cleanliness.
The railways had conducted a third-party survey for assessment of cleanliness. The survey was conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI) covering 407 major railway stations — 75 in A1 category and 332 in A category stations. The first survey was conducted by the IRCTC in 2016, the second by QCI.
The Minister also said that in A category stations, Marwar in Rajasthan topped the list, followed by Phulera in Rajasthan at number two, and Warangal in Telangana at number three.
Marwar was at the 168th spot in the 2017 cleanest station list, while Phulera was at 219th place and Warangal at the eighth place in 2017.
The list declared Shahganj in Uttar Pradesh as the dirtiest railway station in A category stations.
Mr. Piyush Goyal also said that the North Western Railway (NWR) topped the list in the cleanest zone category.
“NWR was at the eighth spot last year. This year it topped the list, that shows how the team has worked tremendously in last one year,” Mr. Piyush Goyal said.
The South Central Railway (SCR) was declared the second cleanest zone. The SCR was at the fourth spot last year.
The East Coast Railway (ECR) was placed at the third spot in the cleanest zones.


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Indian Railways Cleanliness Survey Report: Jodhpur Cleanest Station, Varanasi Slips In Ranking.