Indian Railways has reached a major milestone, becoming the world’s largest railway system to run almost entirely on electricity. Nearly the entire 70,000-kilometre broad-gauge network is now electrified, marking a transformation years in the making. As of November last year, more than 99% of the system had switched from diesel to electric power—dramatically cutting emissions, fuel costs and travel times.
The pace of electrification has grown significantly. Between 2004 and 2014, the network added only about 1.5 kilometres of electrified track a day. Over the last six years, that rate has accelerated ten-fold to around 15 kilometres daily, reflecting one of the fastest railway upgrades globally.
Alongside electrification, Indian Railways is rapidly scaling renewable energy use. Installed solar capacity has increased from just under 4 megawatts in 2014 to nearly 900 megawatts by November last year, supporting a long-term ambition to become a net-zero carbon transporter.
