Indian Railways have completed electrification in the Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya section in Karnataka. The 55-km scenic stretch of the Indian Railways, which traverses the Western Ghats, was one of the most difficult terrain for electrification.
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Officials said that the trial run of an electric locomotive was completed successfully on December 28, marking the completion of the project. With the electrification of this Ghat stretch, the entire Bengaluru-Mangaluru route is fully electrified.
The total electrification of broad gauge network across the Indian Railways network have been completed in over 99 per cent of the sections.
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“This terrain was extremely difficult as there is no Approach Road to the railway track. It lies in a steep ruling gradient of 1 in 50, 57 tunnels, 226 bridges, and 108 sharp curves. The area is also prone to landslide in the monsoon season. This is why it was very challenging from the engineering point of view,” said a senior railway official.
The electrification work on the section was taken up in December 2023. It involved the construction of five switching stations and full overhead electrification. (Credit: South Western Railway)
The electrification work on the section was taken up in December 2023. It involved the construction of five switching stations and full overhead electrification. Officials said that a maximum distance of 67.5 km between two traction poles were maintained for the safety purpose.
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“In 57 tunnels, 427 main brackets and 427 spare brackets were installed. Detailed geological studies were carried out with support from the National Institute of Rock Mechanics and Bangalore University,” said the official.
A bracket or cantilever is a support structure which holds the overhead electric wires, also called the catenary system.
The electrification work was also hampered due to heavy landslides, rainfall, rockfall, soil erosion etc. “Due to steep gradient and no proper Approach Road, the materials had to be supplied by rail only. Now, it is ready for fully electrified train operation,” the official added.
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The milestone is also important as it is connected to Bengaluru and Mangaluru, the port city.
Out of over 69,000 route km network of Indian Railways, almost 68,700 route km is now electrified, barring a few stretches where electrification is scheduled to be completed in 2026.
All the states have been 100 per cent electrified except for a few sections in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam and Goa.
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Switzerland is the only major country of Railway system which has achieved 100 per cent electrification. Meanwhile, India is ahead of its competitor’s in this sector. According to the International Union of Railways (UIC) report of 2025, major countries like China, Japan and Russia have electrified 82 per cent, 64 per cent and 52 per cent of its network respectively
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