Electric vehicle chargers to be set-up at Indian railway stations

To promote the use of electric vehicles in India, the Railways have decided to provide space for electric vehicle charging stations in the future. Space will be given at the parking lots of the train stations.

First few stations that have been selected for the project are New Delhi and Nizamuddin railway stations in the national capital. Preparations are already underway according to a senior Railway Minister. The plan is to put five fast-charging capable DC points that will be able to charge at least 10 cars simultaneously. The AC chargers take around 6 hours to charger the regular electric vehicles while the DC chargers are quicker and take only 40 minutes to an hour to charge a vehicle.

The two charging areas at the stations will be set-up by BSES – Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL). According to the Railway Ministry, providing infrastructure will cost around Rs. 15 lakh while each charging point will cost around Rs. 3 lakh. BRPL will also be responsible to operate these charging stations and the price will be set at Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) tariffs.

A railway official said,

“The EV charging points at the two railway stations will not only generate revenue for the national transporter, it will also reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, “thereby reducing Indian Railways’ carbon footprint and helping the country achieve targets set in Paris Agreement for combating climate change”,

The move is in line with current government’s effort to reduce India’s dependence on oil import in the future. Also, the Railway Ministry is planning to put this as a revenue model and the parking lots where the electric vehicles are parked will continue to charge the parking fees alongside the electricity charges.

No timeline has been given for the setting up of the charging stations as of now but it is expected to be in place by the end of this year.