A speed trial of an electric locomotive was held at Mendipathar Railway Station today, undertaken by officials of the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (Rangiya Division) of Northeast Frontier Railway.
Mendipathar is Meghalaya’s only connection to the national rail grid and the railway station there was inaugurated in 2014. Only diesel locomotives have so far been run on the track there.
The trial was conducted on a stretch from Mendipathar station to Dudhnoi in Assam at a speed of 65kmph. It was required to ensure the smoothness of the overhead electrification works, a press release informed.
For its operation, the electric locomotive relied on 25kv of electric power drawn from the New Bongaigaon substation.
With the electrification work on the Mendipathar-Dudhnoi route now complete, electric trains will be utilised in due course once authorisation is received from the railway authorities.
Earlier, Principal Chief Electrical Engineer in Northeast Frontier Railway, Ravilesh Kumar, reviewed the technical aspects of the electrified station, such as level crossings, bridges, switching stations and track curves.
Kumar advised the concerned sectional and station staff to take various safety measures while working on the 25kv electric traction.
The public were also cautioned about the high voltage traction and warned to keep away from electric wires and fittings either directly or through other articles such as poles, bamboo and other objects.
