Wow! This is where Indian Railways’ 12,000 HP ‘Make in India’ electric locomotives are being manufactured
Indian Railways gets new electric locomotives! As part of a 3.5 billion euros 'Make in India' project, Alstom in a joint venture with Indian Railways is manufacturing 800 electric locomotives in Bihar's Madhepura.
As stated earlier, the WAG-12 class electric locomotives will boast of a horse-power of 12,000 and will be able to haul up to 6,000 tonnes.
Alstom claims that the Madhepura project will help create more than 10,000 jobs in India - both direct and indirect. These jobs will be created in the states of Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
As part of the joint venture with Indian Railways, Alstom will also maintain the super-powered double section locomotives for a period of 11 years.
Said to be one of the "largest integrated greenfield facilities", the Madhepura railway locomotive factory is spread over 250 acres. The factory and facility also has a testing track for the locomotives.
According to Alstom, the factory has a production capacity of 120 electric locomotives per annum.
Alstom claims that as many as over 300 engineers from both India and France were involved in designing and engineering the electric locomotive for Indian Railways.
Under the project, the first few car body shells for the locomotives are being imported into India. Eventually, these will be made at the factory in Madhepura.
Alstom is also setting up depots in Nagpur (Maharashtra) and Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) that will be used for preventive and corrective maintenance of the locomotives.
The all-mechanised depots will have paint shops, bogie wash, smart warehousing, under floor wheel lathe etc. There will also be a training center with simulator for training of loco pilots.
These new electric locomotives will be used for freight trains, and will eventually haul trains on the Dedicated Freight Corridors.
The "green" locomotive makes use of eco-friendly LED lighting and also has low voltage cables. The IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors)-based propulsion technology that the locomotive is equipped with helps save energy as it allows for regenerative braking.
The electric locomotives will be able to attain speeds as high as 120 kmph - a fact that will greatly facilitate in faster movement of freight.
In an earlier interaction, Alstom India's Managing Director Alain Spohr had told FE Online that the French major hopes to eventually be able to export electric locomotives out of India.
The 800 electric locomotives for Indian Railways will mean that freight trains on the railway network will be able to travel at faster speeds and carry heavier tonnage.