Railways to be 100% LED-lit by March including platforms, staff quarters

In an effort to go 'green' and cut power consumption, the Indian Railways on Tuesday said it planned to make all stations 100 per cent LED lit by 31 March 2018.

The railways said it was actively working to provide 100 per cent LED lighting in railway staff colonies, stations and platforms.

"The ministry of Railways has decided to make all railway stations 100 per cent LED lit by the end of current financial year by March 31, 2018. It is a huge initiative to provide energy efficient lighting which will eventually greatly help in the conservation of environment as well," the railways said in a statement in New Delhi.

Separately confirming the development, South Central Railway general manager Vinod Kumar Yadav said that all railway stations in the jurisdiction of SCR will be entirely LED lit by March, 2018.

Speaking at the National Energy Conservation Seminar held at Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad as part of the 'Energy Conservation Week' being celebrated by SCR, he said the zone has been a pioneer in installation of energy efficient gadgets like LED lighting, Brushless DC electric motor energy saving fans, inverter type AC's.

He added that SCR was focusing on generating power from renewable resources like solar, wind and daylight pipe technology, apart from saving with energy efficient systems to save conventional energy resources.

Light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs are more energy efficient and have a longer lifespan than standard bulbs.

Till November 2017, about 3,500 railway stations had already been provided with cent per cent LED lights. About 20 lakh such lights have been installed, the railways statement said.

The initiative will reduce consumption by about 10 per cent of the total energy being utilised for non-traction uses, conserving about 240 million units of electricity, which will save the railways about Rs 180 crore annually, it said.

The Railways has also issued directives to Zonal Railways to provide LED light fittings to residential quarters.

Zonal Railways had distributed about 20 lakh LED lights to railway staff till October, 2017, under the government's Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) Scheme.

The railways also aim at providing these lights on all coaches/EMUs. Already, the lights in 1300 non-AC second-class and 3-tier sleeper coaches have been fully converted to LED.