What are the voltages used for electric traction in India?
Voltages used are 1.5kV DC and 25kV AC for mainline trains. Calcutta had an overhead 3kV DC system until the ’60s. The 1.5kV DC overhead system (negative earth, positive catenary) is used around Bombay (This includes Mumbai CST – Kalyan, Kalyan – Pune, Kalyan – Igatpuri, Mumbai CST – Belapur – Panvel, and Churchgate – Virar). There are plans [2/04] to change this to 25kV AC by 2010. In preparation for this, BHEL has been retrofitting some Alstom EMUs with AC drives to allow them to operate with both DC and AC traction as the system conversion proceeds (see the section on EMUs). Conversion to 25kV AC has already been done on the Titwala-Kasara section; next to be converted are Khapoli-Vangani, Vangani-Thane, and Titwala-Thane. The Madras suburban routes (Madras-Tambaram in the ’60s, extended later to Villupuram) used to be 1.5kV DC until about 1967, when it was converted to 25kV AC (all overhead catenary supply). (This is where the MG DC locos were used, e.g., the YCG-1 series.) The 25k
