Indian Railways’ Rs 765 crore plan advances 2×25 kV systems

Indian Railways has sanctioned Rs 765.34 crore of traction and communications work that upgrades two busy corridors from 1×25 kilovolt (kV) to 2×25 kV electric traction and provides 1,000 route km of optical fibre. The two traction schemes cover 232 km and account for Rs 577.46 crore, making higher-capacity power supply the largest component of the programme.

Why are Indian Railways’ Rs 765.34 crore upgrades focused on 2×25 kV?

Indian Railways is applying 2×25 kV traction upgrades to two high-density routes where added power-supply capacity is intended to support higher loads, speed potential and reliability. The Rs 318.07 crore Duvvada–Visakhapatnam–Vizianagaram project covers 106 km on East Coast Railway, while the Rs 259.39 crore Raichur–Guntakal project covers 126 km in South Central Railway’s Guntakal Division. Both schemes are included in the 2024–25 Railway Budget’s nationwide traction-modernisation programme.

The change is from the existing 1×25 kV system to 2×25 kV alternating-current traction, the electricity supply arrangement used for train operations. Indian Railways’ Traction Installation Directorate standardises equipment for both systems, including traction-substation and overhead-line equipment. The disclosed rationale is operational: the Duvvada section is intended to strengthen freight movement to Visakhapatnam Port, while the Raichur section is intended to facilitate freight and passenger services, including Vande Bharat trains, on the Mumbai–Chennai route.

What makes the two corridors relevant to freight capacity?

Indian Railways has selected corridors with stated freight and passenger roles rather than a general electrification expansion. The 106-km Duvvada–Visakhapatnam–Vizianagaram section lies on the Howrah–Chennai route and carries minerals and industrial goods from Odisha and Chhattisgarh to Visakhapatnam Port. The proposed 2×25 kV system is intended to allow higher freight loading while improving power-supply reliability for passenger trains.

The 126-km Raichur–Guntakal section is on the Mumbai–Chennai route across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Indian Railways says its 2×25 kV conversion will enable higher train loads and improved speed potential, contributing to its stated mission of 3,000 million tonnes of freight loading. For comparison, Indian Railways reported record freight loading of 1,670 million tonnes in FY26, 3.25% above the previous year, while freight revenue was Rs 1.78 lakh crore, or 63.97% of total receipts.

The programme therefore differs from broad-gauge electrification measured by route coverage. As of March 2025, Indian Railways had electrified 68,701 km, or 98.83%, of its 69,512-km broad-gauge network, leaving 811 km. The newly sanctioned 232 km does not extend that coverage measure; it upgrades the traction system on already electrified sections. The stated benefits depend on project execution and on associated substation, overhead equipment and operating arrangements being implemented.

How does the fibre project support Kavach communications?

Indian Railways is allocating Rs 187.88 crore, or 24.5% of the Rs 765.34 crore package, to a 4×48-core optical fibre cable (OFC) backbone in Western Railway’s Vadodara and Mumbai Central divisions. OFC transmits data through fibre strands, and the specified architecture is intended to provide enhanced bandwidth and network redundancy. The work covers 692 km in Vadodara Division and 308 km in Mumbai Division, totalling 1,000 route km.

The disclosed purpose is reliable communications for LTE-based Kavach and other critical railway systems. Kavach is Indian Railways’ indigenous train collision avoidance system. Indian Railways has identified 37,000 km for Kavach fitment and 15,000 km for conversion to automatic signalling, making the Western Railway OFC work part of a wider communications and signalling requirement rather than a standalone cable installation.

The traction and communications works address separate constraints. The Rs 577.46 crore traction component provides higher-capacity power distribution over 232 km, while the Rs 187.88 crore fibre component provides a data backbone over 1,000 route km. Kavach deployment will still require the relevant train-control, signalling and communication systems beyond the fibre route, but the sanctioned cable is intended to provide bandwidth and redundancy for those systems.

Is the supplier base widening for 2×25 kV equipment?

Indian Railways increased development-vendor capacity for several traction components during 2024–25, according to the Traction Installation Directorate. Development vendors for 60/84/100 megavolt-amperes (MVA) Scott-connected traction transformers increased from one to four, while the 132/2×55 kV and 220/2×55 kV category increased from zero to one. These transformer categories are listed in the directorate’s 2×25 kV equipment work.

Vendor numbers also increased in single-phase dual-low-voltage-winding transformer categories. The 38/53/63 MVA, 132/2×27.5 kV category rose from two to four, while the 220/2×27.5 kV category rose from zero to two. Development vendors for autotransformers increased from two to three for 8 MVA and 12.3 MVA units, and from three to four for 16.5 MVA units.

The directorate’s current assignments show that vendor development remains in progress. The list includes 25 kV and 2×25 kV supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, control and relay panels, circuit breakers, automatic fault locators, power-quality restorers and traction transformers. It also includes preparation of a technical document for digital traction substations and an IIT Roorkee study of power supply in 1×25 kV and 2×25 kV systems.

Conclusion

Indian Railways’ Rs 765.34 crore package concentrates spending on higher-capacity traction rather than new electrification, with Rs 577.46 crore directed to 232 km of 2×25 kV conversion and Rs 187.88 crore assigned to 1,000 route km of fibre. The corridor choices link power-system upgrades to port-bound mineral traffic, the Mumbai–Chennai route and Kavach communications requirements, while vendor additions broaden the developmental supplier pool for selected 2×25 kV equipment.

The next indicators are the execution of the two sanctioned conversions and the Western Railway fibre backbone, alongside the directorate’s disclosed plans for digital traction substations, 200-km-per-hour power-supply simulation and revised 2×25 kV guidance for 160-km-per-hour operation. The direction of the upgrade programme will depend on project completion, equipment qualification and rollout of associated signalling, SCADA and Kavach systems.