South Central Railway has bagged the National Energy Conservation(Zonal Railway Sector) Award for the year 2011 in recognition of its achievements in the arena of energy conservation.Shri Shushil Kumar Shinde, Hon’ble Union Minister of Power presented the Award to Shri G.R. Agarwal, Chief Electrical Engineer, South Central Railway on 14th December, 2011 in a grand ceremony held in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
Under the dynamic leadership of Shri G.N. Asthana, General Manger, S C Railway has taken pioneering lead inadopting energy conservation measures, both in traction as well as non-tractionsectors. S C Railway reduced non-traction energy consumption in 2010-11 by 4.3% (from 146.5 million Units to 140.3 million Units) as compared to last year. Electric traction energy consumption was also reduced by 5.1% and Diesel fuel consumption by 3.5% in 2010-11.
Main measures in the non-traction sector include use of energy efficient lighting fitting viz., T-5 tube lights, LED lights and CFLs, energy efficient star rated appliances, use of renewable energy sources like solar water heaters, solar lightsand timer switches in the high masts. Similarly, considerable energy saving was achieved in the traction sector by closely monitoring traction energy consumption, use of state-of-art energy efficient 3-phase locomotives with regenerative braking, provision of dynamic brakes in locomotives, use of energy-cum-speed monitors (ESMONS), improved driving skills of crew, provision of coastingboards, caution boards and “Switching-off’ of electric engines / auxiliary machines while idling for a longer period.