RAILWAYS TAKES THE N-ROUTE

With near-total electrification, Railways warms to clean energy to power its networks. Nuclear power via captive Small Modular Reactors may show the way

- By AVISHEK GHOSH DASTIDAR

WHAT STARTED OUT A FEW YEARS AGO as a vague, lofty aspiration to be the world's first 'net-zero (on greenhouse gas emissions)' rail network by the end of this decade has now crystallised into a data-rich, executable plan for the Indian railways.

The network finally stands just shy of 100 per cent electrification, and is already eyeing its next big leap: nuclear power.

Not in the locomotives, but in the energy mix that drives them. Indian Railways has, in recent months, initiated talks with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) along with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) to gain access to nuclear energy—more specifically Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)—to provide a reliable portion of the 10 GW (Gigawatts) of power it will require each year by 2030. As Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw says, "It's clean and can be cheaper than many other sources (of power), apart from being free from disruptions."

Grid to Grounded Power

Electric traction construction, which in 2014 was being executed at the rate of 1.4 km a day, has increased to 18 km a day. As of March 2025, the railways had electrified 68,701 km, or 98.8 per cent of its total 69,512 km broad-gauge network, which the department says has led to diesel consumption coming down by over 6,400 million litres annually. But there's an irony built into this: almost 75 per cent of the electricity fuelling these electric trains is still generated from thermal coal—the two worst possible words in sustainability conversations.

Which is why the Railways is now reconsidering where that power comes from. Renewable energy such as solar, wind and hydro power is being added at breakneck speed, as by 2029-30, the country will need 30,000 MWe (megawatts-electric) of renewable power capacity. However, renewables are intermittent. Trains do not have the option to stop and wait till the sun rises again or the wind picks up. Enter nuclear power.