After about 9 decades of relentless service on main line, baton handed over to the next generation
Conversion of Ambitious 1500 Volt DC into 25000 Volt AC Traction System
Over Central Railway
A historic milestone was achieved by the Central Railway in the early morning hours of 8.6.2015 with the ambitious conversion from 1500 Volt DC to 25000 Volt AC traction system over Chhatrapati...
more... Shivaji Terminus Mumbai (CSTM) to Mumbra (inclusive) on slow corridor and CSTM to Thane (exclusive) on fast corridor. This smooth and major transition has been achieved without any major disruption or inconvenience to the travelling public. The total project cost of Rs. 1299.91 crore, includes CST-Panvel Harbour line also.
The major benefits of this conversion includes seamless operation on 25000 Volt electric traction services for mail/express trains (including non-daily), coming/going from lgatpuri side and Lonavala side to CST and vice versa. There will be 33% energy saving due to regenerative braking of new generation emu trains; time saving as new generation EMU runs at 100 kmph as compared to DC EMU at 80 kmph.
Mumbai suburban section (Mumbai CST to Kalyan) was electrified in 1925 at 1500 DC traction system which was the only modern traction system available at that time. Since, then this system was catering to the suburban commuter services over the years. For any increase in services (increased frequency and longer trains), additional power is required. Over the years, 1500 V DC system was not able to handle any further additional power requirement. Space availability for additional sub-stations also posed a serious limitation.
History has been created by executing this challenging work of very complex nature in the busiest network of Indian Railways, without any disruption to sensitive commuter traffic. DC to AC conversion work has already been completed in Vasai-Diva-Jasai, Panvel-Karjat, lgatpuri-Kalyan & Pune–Kalyan, Kalyan-Thane fast corridor and Thane-LTT section on 5th and 6th Lines.
First locals on AC traction from different terminals on Up slow line
Thane - CST 0631 hrs
Kurla - CST 0625 hrs
Kalyan - CST 0604 hrs
On Dn slow from CST-Ambarnath 0616 hrs
On Dn fast CST-Kalyan 0606 hrs
On Up fast Karjat-CST 0611 hrs from Kalyan.