CORE carries out trial run of electric locomotive between Trichy and Erode

A trial run using an electric locomotive was conducted from Erode to Tiruchi on Wednesday following completion of overhead electrification works in the section.

Officials of the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE), which executed the electrification project, carried out the trial run in the 140-km section.

Hauling a tower wagon, the electric loco left Erode Junction in the afternoon and reached Tiruchi around 6 p.m. via Karur. The trial run was carried out prior to mandatory inspection by the Commissioner of Railway Safety following completion of the electrification project in the Tiruchi–Karur– Erode section.

CORE officials said the trial run was carried out successfully at a speed of nearly 100 km/hour.

As part of the project, carried out at a cost of about Rs. 140 crore, CORE had established over 200 portals and more than 3,500 masts along the entire stretch.

CORE had already invited the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) to inspect the electrified stretch. Operation of electric loco hauled passenger and freight trains would commence only after obtaining statutory clearance from the CRS, the officials said.