OREANDA-NEWS.  In a move to further improve energy efficiency on Indian Railways, a web based Electrical Energy Management System, RAILSAVER, developed by Centre of Railway Informatics System (CRIS), an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Railways, was inaugurated by Shri Kul Bhushan, Member Electrical, Railway Board here today. He said that this portal will be very useful for Indian Railways in reducing carbon foot print which is very important for addressing the challenges of global warming and sustainability of our environment. He also stated that Indian Railways is determined to reduce the cost of electricity by adopting various means like procuring power through trading, bilateral arrangements etc.

Shri Bhushan further stated that the portal RAILSAVER will provide a perfect IT based platform for energy consumption data which will pave the way for systematic collection, assimilation, interpretation and analysis of data in evolving future strategies for conceiving, implementing and further intensifying energy conservation efforts on Indian Railways. He also sought support of UNDP in linking of RAILSAVER web-site with other Railroad systems so that the best practices on energy efficiency, benchmarks for specific energy consumption etc. can be shared and adopted by amongst each other.

The portal is a part of the project for “Improving Energy Efficiency in Indian Railway System” being executed by Indian Railways under programmatic framework of UNDP through Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funding of US USD  5.2 million. The project envisages defining framework for energy conservation initiatives on Indian Railway system by introduction of energy efficient technologies and adoption of various measures in traction and non-traction sub-sectors.

Slew of measures like adoption of energy efficient luminaries and equipment, deployment of new generation 3 phase energy efficient electric locomotives and electrical multiple units etc. have resulted into substantial savings in electricity consumption in the past. This portal will further facilitate in saving energy upto 15% by the year 2020 through improved energy efficiency measures as laid down in Railway’s vision document. The project after implementation will be immensely helpful in creating awareness of energy efficiency measures, understanding importance of such measures, availability of knowledge bank on these measures, availability of training modules amongst many others.

Ms. Suhas Kumar, MD/CRIS, Ms. Alexandra Solovieva, Dy. Country Head UNDP and Officers from Railway Board, UNDP, Northern Railway and CRIS also present on the occasion among others.