Will phase out diesel locomotive in five years: Rail Minister

New Delhi: Coal and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said the Indian Railways will completely phase out diesel locomotives in the next five years and will switch to electric locomotives with the focus on increasing speed.

"We have planned to switch all trains to be electric-driven in the next five years," Goyal said, addressing the National Executive Council members of FICCI here.

By phasing out diesel locomotives, the Railways will save about Rs 11,500 crore annually, he said.

"The diesel locomotives will be used for back up purposes in the yards."

Stressing on the safety of passengers, the Railways Minister also said that he had directed the railway officials to speed up the production of the Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) coaches instead of relying on the Integrated Coach Factory (ICF) coaches.

"We are promoting LHB type coaches as they are safer as compared to the ICF coaches," he said, adding that June 2018 will be the last month for the ICF coaches to be manufactured.

"I have also asked the rail coach factories to develop the LHB coaches and also asked the Rae Bareli coach factory to double up its production, as it currently can build 1,000 coaches annually."