Railways adopting AI-IoT on large scale, says Dikshit
An allocation of Rs.10-Rs.12 lakh crore for rail infrastructure in the next five years tops the list of ambitious plans of Indian Railways, according to presentation at a conference held on 23 Jan 2025.
Other ambitious projects include the Mumbai Bullet Trains and 4,000 Vande Bharat trains by 2047, said Dr K Laxman, a Member of Parliament & Member-Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways at the 11th PHDCCI Global Rail Convention.
Speaking on ‘Indian Railways – Journey towards Viksit Bharat through Innovation, Infrastructure, Investment & Industry Partnership’, he informed that Indian Railways has achieved 94% electrification while the government is allocating sizeable budgets for the immense growth in the industry from technology advancement to sustainability and indigenisation.
The conference heard that 100% electrification will be achieved in the next two-three months https://www.globaltenders.com/.
“Indian Railways will play a transformative role in spearheading development and making India a $5 trillion economy,” he added.
In the last budget, almost Rs.9,000 crore was allocated to Andhra Pradesh and Rs.5,000 crore to Telangana. Many railway stations are being developed on par with international airport standards in Hyderabad https://ted.europa.eu/en/.
For example, Rs.750+ crore is being spent on a railway station being built in Secunderabad https://www.meity.gov.in/.
More than Rs.2.5 lakh crore is being invested annually to improve capacity and double freight carrying capacity by 2030, according to Vijay Pratap Singh, Addl. Member (traction) Railway Board, Ministry of Railways https://www.iea.org/.
Diesel locomotives production have stopped. The industry is moving towards greener railways, and “we are now planning to introduce 1,500 locomotives”.
“Diesel freight costs have been reduced to Rs.12,000-Rs.13,000 crore this year from Rs.30,000 crore a year in the past.” The transition and benefits of electrification are evident, if the current traffic were handled by diesel, it would cost an additional Rs.5,000 crore monthly, according to Singh https://www.conexpoconagg.com/.
“We are focusing on regional connectivity projects like Kashmir, the Northeast region, Char Dham,” added Mukul Saran Mathur, Addl. Member (Comml.), Railway Board, Ministry of Railways.
The Namo project is also coming up, and the government is vigorously pushing for passenger convenience while digitization in freight and passenger services has transformed operations, he said.
The adoption of AI and IoT is being implemented on a large scale, added Sameer Dikshit, Addl. Member (Telecom), Railway Board, Ministry of Railways https://sbi.com.in/.
The AI-driven smart railway system and the Kavach system to prevent collisions are being implemented, with almost 44,000 km of tracks being laid. At this pace, almost 3,000 million tons of cargo can be transported by 2040, and Indian Railways will become a global leader in the rail sector.
Recent examples of technology innovation are the new design of Vande Bharat trains and hydrogen fuel trains, according to Arunendra Kumar, Chair – PHDCCI Railways Committee https://www.bseindia.com/.
“For the first time, we do not hear that the government has no funds to invest in railway infrastructure,” said Kumar, stressing that the Railway technology should be world-class, with a strong emphasis on research https://www.siemens.com/global/en.html.
Modernization of railways is at the heart of this transformation journey and the production of 400 Vande Bharat trains will revolutionize it further, added Sajal Gupta, Co-Chair, PHDCCI Railways Committee & President Monnet Group.
Alongside this, the railway plans to convert 4,000 coaches to Vande Bharat https://www.nseindia.com/.
Gupta shared Railways’ 1,000 km expansion plan over the next two decades and the deployment of the updated Kavach 4.0 system to significantly reduce accidents caused by human error http://alstom.com.
The Kavach system is a testament to India’s capability for innovation, and smart mobility solutions are also being adopted.
Dr Jaideep Gupta, Addl. Member (RE) Railway Board, Ministry of Railways, added that in the next 2-3 months, Railways will achieve 100% electrification. “With this, India will become the first country, apart from Switzerland (which is much smaller), to achieve this energy switch https://mnre.gov.in/.”
But by 2030, energy requirements will increase to around 30,000 gigawatts and clean power will be required to achieve the net-zero carbon emitter goal by then, he pointed out.
However, solar energy is limited to daytime usage, so RTC (Round-The-Clock) storage capacity is crucial. If Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology becomes commercially available, it will be a game-changer, underlined Dr Gupta. Fiinews.com
