In the past 11 months, Central and the Western Railways saved around 3 crore litre diesel costing around Rs 275 crore and reduced Co2 emission by approx 7.5 crore kg by adopting a head-on generation (HOG) system. Conversion of 225 rakes from the end on generation (EOG) system to HOG also increased the carrying capacity of over hundreds of trains of WR and CR by replacing passenger coaches in the palace of generator power car.
In HOG technology, power is fed from the 3-phase electric locomotive which draws the power directly from electric traction through a pantograph, to meet the power supply requirements in the coaches of Mail Express trains i.e air conditioners, electric bulbs fans and pantry etc. Hence one power car (DG Set) is replaced by one passenger coach according to occupancy of the trains.
"The LHB type coaches are best suited for adoption of HOG technology. As of date, Central Railway has the holding of 75 LHB rakes all of which are HOG compliant. Thereby Central Railway saved 1.35 crore litres of diesel valued at Rs 87.77 crore on account of expenditure on diesel consumption during the current year from April 2021 to February 2022" said Shivaji Sutar, CPRO CR.
Similarly, 125 rakes of Western Railway trains were converted into HOG technology, these rakes are being hauled by HOG to enable the electric locomotives.
Thereby Western Railway saved 2.73 crore litre diesel valued approx at Rs 148.50 crore and eliminated the need to operate DG sets in 125 rakes which reduced the noise and air pollution and offered a substantial reduction in HSD (High-Speed Diesel) consumption between April 2021 to February 2022.
"It's a good move. At about 2.5 kgs of CO2 emissions per litre of diesel, a lot of unnecessary emissions will be prevented. Many such avenues should be identified" said Rishi Aggarwal of Mumbai Sustainability Centre. Hence saving around 3 crore litres of diesel consumption reduced nearly seven crore kg of CO2 emission.
What is a HOG?
Head On Generation (HOG) is a green techo]nology, that taps overhead supply lines and distributes power to the train coaches. Under the old end of the generation system, coaches received power from diesel-fuelled power cars sets (one in front side other is in rear side) for lighting and air conditioning.
The HOG system does not require any diesel oil consumption and as such will reduce air and noise pollution. In addition, it also provides uninterrupted illumination in the coaches. Hence one DG set (Power car) has been replaced by a passenger coach in those trains which are being operated under the HOG system.
These rakes are running only with one power car as a backup system, which is mostly used in emergencies. The addition of one additional coach increases the carrying capacity of these trains.
Benefits of HOG Technology:
Huge financial savings in terms of reduction in Diesel consumption in power cars.
Reduction in Air Pollution
Reduction in noise pollution due to removal of generator cars
Increase in passenger-carrying capacity by attaching passenger coach in place of power cars, thereby increasing passenger revenue.
Carbon credits earnings- carbon credits can be earned by not emitting carbon dioxide through the burning of high-speed diesel into the environment.
Better reliability due to reduced number of generating equipment, low maintenance etc.
