India Launches First LNG-Diesel Dual-Fuel DEMU Train

Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off India’s first LNG-diesel dual-fuel DEMU train at Sabarmati Railway Station in Ahmedabad on Sunday, marking the introduction of dual-fuel technology for Diesel Electric Multiple Unit trains in the country (Indian Express). The train operates with two 1,400 HP Driving Power Cars converted at the Sabarmati Integrated Coaching Depot to run on a diesel-LNG dual-fuel system, allowing liquefied natural gas to replace nearly 40 percent of diesel consumption (Google News India). The initiative is aimed at reducing diesel use, fuel costs, and emissions including carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter (Google News India).

At the same event, Shah inaugurated and laid foundation stones for railway projects worth Rs 1,472 crore in the Sabarmati division, including a WAG-12 Maintenance Shed constructed at a cost of Rs 700 crore for the maintenance of high-horsepower electric locomotive engines (Google News India). The package also covers the installation of the indigenous Kavach automatic train protection system on the Sabarmati–Kalol–Sabarmati section at a cost of Rs 48 crore, with related work commencing on the Ahmedabad–Palanpur and Ahmedabad–Samakhiali sections (Google News India). An automatic block signalling system has been introduced across 122.57 km of railway sections between Sabarmati-Kalol-Bhandu Motidau and Sabarmati-Sanand-Jakhwada at a cost of around Rs 118.83 crore, designed to maintain safe distances between trains and increase route capacity (Google News India). The Sabarmati-Sarkhej railway line doubling project, estimated at Rs 313.27 crore, will cover a 21-km stretch and is targeted for completion by March 2028 (Google News India).

Shah highlighted the reduction in railway diesel consumption, stating it had fallen from 293 crore litres in 2015-16 to 108 crore litres in 2024-25 and would be brought down to zero by 2030 (Google News India). He said annual railway track electrification had increased from 75 km in 2010-11 to 7,188 km in 2023-24, with 99.6 percent of the railway network now electrified (Google News India). Shah also noted the successful trial of the country’s first long-haul double-stack container train from Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai to Vadodara, and said an 11,000-km corridor is being converted into a four-track network to improve freight movement (Google News India). Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and other dignitaries were present at the programme (Google News India).