Indian Railways electrification began on 3 February 1925 with a 1,500 V DC train between Bombay VT and Kurla. Only 388 route km were electric at Independence.…
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway ran a 1,500 V DC train on the 16-km Harbour branch from Bombay VT to Kurla.
Bombay's western suburbs went electric in 1928, the steep Kalyan-Poona line in 1930 and Madras Beach-Tambaram in 1931.
After 22 years only 388 route km were electric, all on DC. Steam hauled almost everything else.
25 kV AC at grid frequency needs far fewer substations than DC, making long-distance electrification affordable.
On an iron-ore route in the eastern mineral belt, where heavy trains ran all day.
Delhi-Howrah was the first trunk route wired end to end, in January 1977.
Delhi-Bombay (1987), Howrah-Bombay and Delhi-Chennai (1991) and Delhi-Bombay via Central Railway (1992).
Mumbai's suburban network moved from 1,500 V DC to 25 kV AC between 2012 and 2016, the Harbour line last.
Annual electrification jumped to 4,087 route km in 2017-18, up from about 1,400 a year.
The Cabinet approved electrifying all remaining broad gauge, then targeted for 2021-22.
Alstom's 12,000 HP WAG-12B, India's most powerful locomotive, made its first commercial run on 18 May 2020.
A record 7,188 route km were electrified in 2023-24, after a December 2023 deadline had passed.
Yes. Trial runs on 31 March 2026 completed the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, wired end to end.
Not quite: 70,002 of 70,271 route km were electric, with gaps in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Goa and Rajasthan.
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