Electrical traction is as environmental friendly, pollution-free and energy efficient mode of transport and offer an excellent alternative to fossil fuels as a source of energy. Electrification was introduced on IR in 1925 with 1500 Volts DC and subsequently, extended by installing 3000 Volts DC system. 388 route Kms. had been electrified by the year 1936. In 1957, IR decided to adopt 25 KV AC traction system and, thus, selected main lines and high-density routes were taken up for Energisation in a planned manner. Today, out of the seven major trunk routes connecting Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi and Chennai, six are fully electrified and work is in progress on the remaining   Mumbai-Chennai route. 

Also, 2X25 KV Auto transformer system of traction was introduced in 1995 on Bina katni Anuppur-Bishrampur/Chirimiri section of West Central and South East Central Railway. 

Presently 31.33% of the total route Kms. of IR is electrified. Over the Years, the progress of electrification on IR has been as under: 

*168 RKM of electrified MG dismantled
Click here to check the status of Railway electrification on India's map.

STATE WISE POSITION OF ROUTE KILOMETRES ELECTRIFIED
SN	State	Total Route Kilometer	Route Kilometer electrified	Percentage
1	Andhra Pradesh	5185	2493	48.08%
2	Bihar	3515	1053	29.96%
3	Chattisgarh	1186	861	72.60%
4	Delhi	182	139	76.37%
5	Gujarat	5328	723	13.57%
6	Haryana	1553	413	26.59%
7	Himachal Pradesh	285	23	8.07%
8	Jharkhand	1968	1591	80.84%
9	Karnataka	3007	161	5.35%
10	Kerala	1050	540	51.43%
11	Madhya Pradesh	4949	2126	42.96%
12	Maharashtra	5601	2065	36.87%
13	Orissa	2385	1371	57.48%
14	Punjab	2133	527	24.71%
15	Pondicherry	11	11	100.00%
16	Rajasthan	5854	642	10.97%
17	Tamil Nadu	4106	1235	30.08%
18	Uttar Pradesh	8702	2137	24.56%
19	Uttranchal	345	52	15.07%
20	West Bengal	3890	1896	48.74%
21	Other States	2780	0	0.00%
	Total	64015	20059	31.33%

ON GOING RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION WORKS 2010-11
SN	Name of Project	RAILWAY	STATE	RKM	Balance RKM as on 01.04.10
1	Renigunta- Guntakal	South Central	Andhra Pradesh	308	179
2	Khurja-Meerut-Saharanpur incl. Ghaziabad-Meerut	Northern	Uttar Pradesh	254	142
3	Ernakulam-Trivandrum incl.TVC-Kanniyakumari	Southern	Kerala & Tamil Nadu	429	87
4	Moradabad-Lucknow-Utratia	Northern	Uttar Pradesh	338	81
5	Utratia-Sultanpur-Mughalsarai	Northern	Uttar Pradesh	288	123
6	Lingampalli-Wadi	South Central	Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka	161	52
7	Ujjain -Indore & Dewas -Maksi	Western	Madhya Pradesh	115	27
8	Shakurbasti -Rohtak	Northern	Delhi & Haryana	60	3
9	Jalandhar-Jammu Tawi -Udhampur as phase I of Jalandhar-Jammu Tawi-Baramula	Northern	Punjab, Himanchal Pradesh &  J&K	275	176
10	Barabanki-Gonda-Gorakhpur-Barauni incl. Siwan -Thawe	Northeast & East Central	Uttar Pradesh & Bihar	729	399
11	Jhansi -Kanpur incl. Ait-Konch	North Central	Uttar Pradesh	240	240
12	Barauni-Katihar - Guwahati incl. Katihar -Barsoi	East Central & North East Frontier	Bihar, West Bengal & Assam	836	836
13	Madurai-Tuticorin-Nagercoil	Southern	Tamil Nadu	262	262
14	Varanasi-Janghai-Unchahar incl. Phaphamau-Prayag-Allahabad	Northern	Uttar Pradesh	207	207
15	Delhi Sarai rohilla-Gurgaon	Northern	Delhi & Haryana	30	30
16	Ghaziabad-Moradabad	Northern	Uttar Pradesh	140	140
17	Rohtak-Bhatinda-Lehra Muhabat	Northern	Punjab & Haryana	252	252
18	Shoranur-Mangalore-Penambur	Southern	Kerala & Karnatak	328	328
19	Pandabeshwar–Sainthia – Pakur incl. Khana -Sainthia	Eastern	West Bengal & Jharkhand	205	205
20	Gondia - Ballarshah	South East Central	Maharashtra	250	250
21	Daund – Manmad incl. Puntamba - Shirdi	Central	Maharashtra	255	255
	TOTAL			5847	4274

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