In line with Indian Railways decision to adopt Head on Generation (HOG) technology on
all Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coach fitted trains; NFR has already started taking required
initiatives in this direction. From yesterday (15.07.2020), 05956 Delhi – Dibrugarh
Brahmaputra Mail Spl and 02502 New Delhi – Agartala Rajdhani Spl started running with
HOG technology for journey up to New Jalpaiguri. During return journey also both the trains
will run on HOG technology. Now, Generator cars of both the trains will be kept in shutdown
condition from Delhi to New Jalpaiguri and back. The entire electrical load of AC, lights, fans
and other electrical equipments of the complete rake will be taken from Train Engine running
on electric traction, thereby saving lot of Diesel during journey.
The new technology will not only help to reduce the power costs for running trains but
will also help provide a cleaner environment for our future generations to come. The Diesel fuel
saving in these two trains on this account is expected to be around 1132 Kilo Litre per
annum, thereby saving Diesel fuel cost of approx. Rs. 7.16 Cr per annum.
The present LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches have been designed to run on End
on Generation (EOG) system with two power cars employing two DG sets on either end. They
are being modified to run on Head on Generation (HOG) technology. In NFR out of total 49
LHB rakes, 23 rakes have been made as HOG compliant and shall be put in operation as and
when the train services are started. The remaining 26 LHB rakes have also been planned to be
converted as HOG compliant during current year 2020-21.
In this new system power supply will be tapped from overhead power lines through
pantograph to the train engine which will then be distributed to the coaches for train lighting, air
conditioning, fans and other equipment that runs on the electrical power supply. As the entire
N.F. Railway portion has been sanctioned for Railway Electrification; the trains of N.F. Railway
with LHB coaches are being modified in various depots and trial run are also being conducted.
There will be better reliability due to reduced number of power generating equipments, low
maintenance and reduced train weight.
The power generator cars which are being used presently consume about 100 lts diesel
per hour, so there is substantial operating expenditure apart from huge noise, fume emission
during run. With changeover to this new HOG technology, there will be huge savings in fuel
bill, thereby saving precious foreign exchange towards import of fuel. Moreover diesel
generators also pollute the air by producing about 1724.6 tons of CO2 and 7.48 tons of NOX
per annum apart from producing about 100db of noise. With new HOG technology, there will
be zero emission of CO2 and NOX apart from it being noiseless.
