Bio-Rail Gaadi

The Railways, in a first, has decided to use low cost biodiesel as fuel for its locomotives shuttling between Raipur-Dhamtari and Raipur-Rajim, part of a pilot project in Chhattisgarh. The fuel was developed at the Rajiv Gandhi Energy park of the state’s Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) from the jatropha plant. Its oil is blended with diesel. The biodiesel produced by the agency was tested at the Research and Development Scientific Organisation of the Railways at Lucknow and Chennai and was found satisfactory. Trial runs start early next month.