NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the rapid electrification of Indian Railways over the past 12 years has helped the country withstand global energy disruptions, claiming the rail network would have come to a “complete standstill” during the ongoing Middle East crisis if the same situation had arisen before 2014.Addressing a gathering after flagging off India’s first hydrogen train at Jind railway station in Haryana, the Prime Minister said that if the Strait of Hormuz had been closed before 2014, the Indian Railways would have come to a complete standstill.“The massive changes that have taken place in the Indian Railways in the last 12 years have benefited India in another way. You are seeing that for the last several months, there has been a war going on in West Asia, in the entire Hormuz region, Iran, and the Gulf. The sea route through which India receives a large amount of petrol, diesel, LPG, and fertiliser for our farmers passes through that very region. But for the last 3-4 months, this route has become a constant battlefield and is surrounded by crises,” PM Modi said.“If this situation had come before 2014, then India’s railways would have come to a complete standstill because, at that time, a very large part of the country’s trains ran only on diesel. Now think, if the diesel supply had stopped, how would those diesel trains have run? The country would have been in such a big crisis. But friends, this is not the situation of 2014. This is Modi. He thinks way in advance and also brings solutions to problems on the ground,” he added.The Prime Minister also said that before 2014, less than 30 per cent of the railway network was electrified, while around 70 per cent ran on diesel.“The electrification of Indian Railways began in 1925, nearly 100 years ago. From 1925 to 2014, in about 90 years, less than one-third of the rail network—around 30%—was electrified, while the remaining 70% ran on diesel,” Modi said.“At that pace, it would have taken another 200 years to fully electrify the network. But in the last 12 years, nearly 99% of India’s rail network has been electrified. In Haryana, the rail network has been electrified 100%,” he added.Drawing a comparison with the evolution of railway technology, the Prime Minister said the 19th century belonged to steam engines, the 20th century to diesel and electric trains, and the 21st century would be defined by hydrogen-powered rail transport.Highlighting the transformation of Indian Railways, Modi said only around 30 per cent of the country’s rail network had been electrified between 1925 and 2014, whereas nearly 99 per cent has been electrified over the past 12 years.He said the expansion of electrification has ensured uninterrupted railway operations despite global conflicts and disruptions to oil supplies.
