Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday flagged off India’s first LNG-powered train from Sabarmati station in Ahmedabad. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was present at the event. The train uses a dual-fuel system that combines diesel and liquefied natural gas.

Two 1,400-horsepower driving power cars were converted to run on both fuels. According to railway trial data, LNG can replace about 40 per cent of diesel use. The technology went through more than 2,000 km of field trials before launch. Railway estimates put the annual saving at about Rs 23.9 lakh for an eight-coach rake.

Shah also inaugurated railway projects worth Rs 1,472 crore in the Sabarmati division. These include a Rs 700 crore WAG-12 locomotive maintenance shed. Shah said the 12,000-horsepower locomotive can haul freight equal to nearly 600 trucks.

The Kavach train-protection system was introduced on the Sabarmati-Kalol section at a cost of Rs 48 crore. Works also began for Kavach on the Ahmedabad-Palanpur and Ahmedabad-Samakhiali sections and for doubling the Sabarmati-Sarkhej line.

Why it matters: The LNG train is India’s first step toward cutting railway diesel use, which has fallen from 293 crore litres in 2015-16 to 108 crore in 2024-25.