It is a proud moment for Indian Railways as 100th 12000 HP WAG 12B has been inducted in Indian Railways fleet. The loco is named WAG 12B with number 60100. The locomotive is manufactured by Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL). These locomotives are state of the art IGBT based, 3 phase drive and 12000 horsepower electric locomotives.
About the locomotive:
- These high horsepower locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving average speed and loading capacity of freight trains.
- This locomotive is capable of a maximum tractive effort of 706 kN, which is capable of starting and running a 6000 T train in the gradient of 1 in 150.
- The locomotive with twin Bo-Bo design having 22.5 T (Tonnes) axle load is upgradable to 25 Tonnes with design speed of 120 kmph.
- These superior electric locomotives built under the ‘Make-in-India’ initiative, are playing a key role in revolutionizing the freight movement in the country.
- It will help to decongest the saturated tracks by allowing faster, safer and heavier freight trains to move across the country, as well as improve the loading capacity.
- So far, these e-Locos have traversed across all Railway divisions and are performing well.
- These locomotives are proving to be a game changer for further movement of coal trains for Dedicated Freight Corridors.
- The locomotives can be tracked through GPS for its strategic use through embedded software and Antennae being lifted through the servers on ground through microwave link.
- These WAG 12B e-Locos have already clocked over 4.8 million kilometres hauling a wide range of commodities across 17 States & 2 Union Territories.
Agreement with Alstom:
- It may be noted that Indian Railways has entered into a Procurement cum Maintenance Agreement with Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL).
- First 12000 HP Made in India Locomotive, manufactured by Madhepura Electric Loco Factory situated in Bihar, was put into operation by Indian Railways from Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn Station on 18.05.2020.
- As part of the contract worth €3.5 billion won in 2015, the company will be supplying 800 fully electric high-powered double-section locomotives of 12,000 HP (9 MW) for freight service, capable of hauling 6,000 tonnes at a top speed of 120 km/hr.
- This is the largest Foreign Direct Investment project in the Indian Railway sector.
Recent achievements:
- In the financial year 2020-2021, Indian Railways recorded a freight loading of 1,232 million tonnes, which was 2% higher than the previous fiscal.
- Introduction of faster trains has helped increase the average speed of transportation by 83% leading to a shorter turnaround time and has supported the movement of essential goods during COVID-19 times.
- With the first Prima T8TM WAG-12B inducted for commercial service in May 2020, these locomotives are transforming the heavy freight transportation landscape of India.
- These locomotives also made the inaugural run on the first fully operational sections of the Dedicated Freight Corridors, in December 2020.
- Some of the key commodities moved by these e-Locos include – coal, cement, food grains, fertilisers, petrochemical products, minerals, and posts/ parcels, across 17 States & 2 Union Territories.
Source: PIB-Press Release | Image Credit: Alstom
