Mumbai: Central Railway's green initiative will charge you up

The EV charging point at CSMT. Pic/Suresh Karkera

The Central Railway, Mumbai, has taken the lead in providing charging points near its stations for electric vehicles. This will not only promote green mobility around railway stations which are inter-modal hubs, but also boost overall electric mobility in the city. It is a first of its kind innovation by the Indian Railways.

All important stations in the island city, suburbs and adjoining Mumbai Metropolitan Region have been selected so as to cover a wider geographical area. The idea behind the venture was brought to Indian Railways by Tata Power and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Anyone can approach and use the charging points on payment of relevant fees. The fees have been mandated by the central government and the party (contractor) running the charging station will charge users accordingly.

"We are starting with key stations like CSMT, Thane, Dadar, Parel and Byculla for which work orders have been floated. Another set of stations including Kurla LTT, Bhandup, Panvel and Kurla have been lined up in the second phase," a senior official said.

Areas at the entry-exit points of railway stations which have parking facility have been earmarked as per availability for charging stations. Central Railway Chief Public Relations officer Shivaji Sutar confirmed the development.

Buses to go green too

Electric mobility has been catching up in the city with the BEST Undertaking in the process of procuring over 300 electric buses. mid-day had highlighted in its December 5 edition, how the public transporter had over 70 electric buses, but just two charging points.

CR Rajdhani speeded up

CR has speeded up the Mumbai CSMT-Hazrat Nizamuddin (4 days a week) Rajdhani superfast special and included an additional halt at Gwalior. From January 9, the train will leave Mumbai CSMT at 4pm every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and arrive at Hazrat Nizamuddin at 9.55 am the next day. From January 10, the train will leave Hazrat Nizamuddin at 4.55 pm every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and arrive at Mumbai CSMT at 11.15 am the next day.