Indian Railways Gets 1st Indigenous 9,000 HP Electric Locomotive! Faster Freight, Passenger Trains Coming Soon

Indian Railways gets its first ‘Make in India’ 9,000 HP electric locomotive! In an engineering feat for the national transporter, the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) has rolled out Indian Railways’ first indigenous 9,000 HP electric locomotive. Last year, Indian Railways got a 12,000 HP electric locomotive, but that was manufactured by French major Alstom in Bihar’s Madehepura in a joint venture with Indian Railways.

This is the first time that Indian Railways’ own locomotive units have manufactured an electric locomotive of such high horsepower. Speaking to Financial Express Online, a CLW official said that the new 9,000 HP locomotive has been made by upgrading a 6,000 HP electric locomotive, and with this movement of both freight and passenger trains will speed up. The new locomotive has been upgraded at an incremental cost of Rs 1.06 crore.

According to the CLW official, after successful validation and trials of the new 9,000 HP locomotive, the unit plans to manufacture 7 more such locomotive for freight operations. These new locomotives will be able to attain maximum speeds of 110 kmph when hauling freight. Additionally, CLW is also hoping to manufacture five passenger locomotives of 9,000 HP. These locos, of WAP-7 series, will be able to pull passenger trains at speeds of 140 kmph. The biggest benefits of the new 9,000 HP locomotives would be better acceleration reserve at higher speed and increased through-put. There is also a possibility of improving the speed potential going ahead, says CLW.

At present, CLW’s 6,000 HP locomotives are used by the national transporter for freight operations. These locomotives are equipped with 4.5MW IGBT based 3-phase drive propulsion equipment. To improve the average speed of freight trains and the traffic throughput, the engine’s horsepower plays a crucial role. To achieve the required locomotive HP to trailing load ratio, a higher horsepower locomotive is required. Hence, CLW has taken up the project to upgrade the power of an existing WAG-9H locomotive from 6,000 HP to 9,000 HP power by modifying the 3-phase drives and traction chain.

The major features of car-body and dynamics have been retained. CLW has upgraded the traction motor, transformer and traction convertor to deliver the required 9,000 HP. “The bogie design has been re-validated for the upgraded power. The transformer/converter cooling arrangement has been modified,” the official told Financial Express Online. No changes have been made to the wheel set, brake system and roof equipment.

Source: FE

Image Courtesy: Indian Railways