The First Ever 9,000 HP Locomotive – Make In India

Indian Railways gets another ‘Make in India’ boost! Recently, the national transporter has achieved the first milestone for upgradation of its locomotives from 6,000 HP to 9,000 HP.

The Ministry of Railways, through a tweet, recently announced that the first ever high HP Motor of 1190 KW for traction application has been inaugurated by Ghanshyam Singh, Member Traction. In addition to this, Piyush Goyal-led Railway Ministry also stated in the tweet that the first ever 9,000 HP locomotive, manufactured under Modi government’s ambitious ‘Make in India’ initiative is expected to be rolled out from Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) in January next year.

A few months back, the CLW rolled out an all-new design 5,400 HP electric locomotive. The electric locomotive, built at a cost of Rs 13 crore is the first in the country to have an aerodynamic design. Moreover, it is capable to achieve speeds of up to 200 kmph. The 5,400 HP electric locomotive was rolled out to haul superfast premium trains of Indian Railways such as Shatabdi Express, Rajdhani Express and Gatiman Express. It was reported that the locomotive has the potential to reduce the air drag at higher speeds for more energy efficiency. It also has an ergonomically re-modified driver desk, voice and video recording system as well as cameras with microphones.

As the national transporter is upgrading its tracks as well as well as its signalling infrastructure, it is also working towards hauling its trains with the help of electric locomotives as they are environment-friendly. Earlier this year, a locomotive was successfully converted from diesel to electric traction by Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) in Varanasi. Indian Railways plans to convert all diesel locomotives during mid-life rehabilitation into electric locomotives. The purpose of using electric locomotives is to help in the reduction of diesel usage as well as to lessen the carbon footprint.

Source: FE

Image Courtesy:CLW