Indian Railways saves big on energy bills! In a game-changing project, Indian Railways has massively cut down on its energy bills and is expected to save big bucks! The Delhi division of the Northern Railways (NR) zone has cut down 80 percent on its energy bills with the successful conversion of 39 pairs of Premium and Express trains to the head-on-generation (HOG) system. An official of the Northern Railways’ Delhi Division told Financial Express Online that the eco-friendly HOG system has been introduced in 11 pairs of Shatabdi Express, eight pairs of Rajdhani Express, two trains of Duronto, two of Humsafar Express and in 16 pairs of Express trains which are presently operating under the Delhi division network.

In an effort to cut down on energy bills and to contribute for environment conservation, the HOG technology has been utilized in the regular operations of trains on the network. The power supply which was tapped from the overhead power lines through the pantograph to the train engine is being utilized to operate the engine and haul the coaches of the train. With the new HOG technology, the power supply which is tapped from overhead to the train engine is being distributed to the trailing coaches for meeting the power requirements.

The HOG system in Indian Railways has been introduced in all the trains which have LHB or the Linke Hofmann Busch coaches and are hauled by electric traction. This environmentally-friendly technology caters to the power needs such as coach lighting, air conditioning in trains. This is an alternate measure of the earlier used End on Generation (EOG) technology in which two power cars were installed in trains.

SC Jain, Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi was quoted in a press release saying that the HOG system does not require the diesel oil consumption. The technology will also reduce air pollution, noise pollution and will provide uninterrupted illumination in the coaches of the train. This is expected to save around Rs 65 crore per annum on the basis of diesel consumption of the generator cars with the introduction of the HOG technology, according to Northern Railways.