Electric locomotives, built by Alstom, have been approved by the Ministry of Railways and RDSO in India to run freight trains at up to 120kph

Earlier in 2020, Indian Railways began introducing WAG 12B electric locomotives, which are now the most powerful locos to run on the railway in India.

Altogether, the locomotives have already completed over 1 million kilometres.

Freight trains can move faster and more safely thanks to the new locomotives, and are expected to increase the average speed of freight trains in India by around 20-25kph.

Commenting on this achievement, Alain SPOHR, Managing Director, Alstom India & South Asia said, “The approval from RDSO is indeed a matter of pride for all of us at Alstom and a testimony of our technical expertise in partnership with the Indian Railways. In line with India’s push towards self-reliance, we have successfully leveraged our local engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Alstom is also committed to support IR in reducing its carbon footprint and adopt cleaner technologies in its quest to transform into the world’s largest Green Railway network. India is a priority for Alstom, and we are committed to work closely with the Indian Railways for all their future modernization endeavours.”

“Equipped with Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) based propulsion technology, it would lead to considerable savings in energy consumption due to use of regenerative braking. The technology is also helpful towards making the acceleration process more efficient by reducing the heat generation and traction noise. Additionally, this move will not only bring down operational costs, but also reduce the congestion faced by Indian Railways”, he added.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Alstom has restarted production at the manufacturing facility, following all government guidance.

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