EV charging facilities are affordable, reliable and will push more electric vehicles on roads: Shivaji Sutar, CPRO Central Railways

Indraneel Chakrabarty: The Central Railway recently installed electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities at nine significant railway stations in the Mumbai division in order to cut carbon footprints – The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Dadar, Byculla, Parel, Kurla, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Bhandup, Kalyan, and Panvel have charging stations available. Central Railways, with its 5900-track kilometres network, is essaying its role as a responsible national partner by contributing to the Government of India’s green initiatives. 

In an exclusive interaction with The Quotes, Mr. Shivaji Sutar, CPRO Central Railways, claimed that the benefits of EV charging points are aimed to encourage the usage of electric vehicles – such as e-scooters, EV bicycles and other EV-based vehicles – with an overall vision to help reduce the growing levels of pollution.

“Contributing to Government of India’s endeavour to reduce carbon emissions, the Central Railways has set up 9 EV (Electric Vehicle) charging facilities, functional 24×7, at important stations of Mumbai Division. Upgraded with EV charging facilities, these vital stations aim to boost e-mobility, envisioned as a progressive step towards achieving environmental stability with significant reductions expected in carbon emission,” said Mr. Sutar.

While Central Railway commits to its dedicated promotion of green initiatives, the provision of an EV charging facility via the Non-Fare Revenue Scheme will also channel additional income.

“The use of the electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities is not just an affordable, efficient and reliable option but also encourages more EVs onto Mumbai’s roads. The initiative also contributes toward healthier air and a clean environment. The latter being quite vital in the national outlook, for tackling the menace of increasing pollution in major cities and important national hubs,” added Mr. Sutar.

The officer further revealed that Indian Railway seeks to reduce reliance on diesel locomotives, as electric locomotives trains will keep getting added. “Currently, EV charging is operating on a Non-Fair Revenue Scheme on a revenue sharing basis. This involves the CR, qualified bidders and the end user, the latter being the public. We are currently using popular social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, among others, to create awareness and educate the general public about the availability of these new upgrades to our facilities.” Mr. Sutar informed.

Speaking of Central Railway’s other green energy initiatives, Mr. Sutar stated that the provision of upgraded EV charging points is one of the several ‘Green Initiative’ steps being adopted by the Indian Railways. “Others being – 100% electrification of the Indian railway network in coming years, meeting energy demand through creation of Renewable energy like Solar & Wind energy, reduction in energy consumption – and especially important buzzwords in the backdrop of the current conversation of world affairs,” he concluded.