In an environment friendly step, railways to electrify all broad gauge rail routes

New Delhi: All broad gauge rail routes in the country will be electrified in mission mode as part of an environment friendly step, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.

Goyal also said the Indian Railways consumes about 1.27 per cent of the total electricity consumption of the country and 3 per cent of High Speed Diesel (HSD) oil for its energy requirements.

The minister said railways is taking various environmental friendly or energy efficiency measures to reduce carbon footprint and protect the environment.

"Railways have decided to electrify 100 per cent of its broad gauge rail routes in mission mode, as a green mode of transport," he said during Question Hour.

Goyal said in 2018-19, Indian Railways consumed about 20.44 billion units of electricity and 3.1 billion litres of HSD oil for its energy requirement.