India to produce heavy-duty locomotives

Chittaranjan, East India(The Statesman/ANN) - India is now eyeing on producing 9,000-Horsepower locomotives of its own. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works - the country's pioneer railway-engine manufacturer located in Bengal-Jharkhand border - has been asked to prepare its infrastructure accordingly for this purpose.

The Dankuni Locomotive Unit, operating as the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works' (CLW) sister organisation, according to top CLW officials, "would be chosen as the breeding house of such modern version of locomotives with the help of Japanese technology".

The high-speed, heavy-haulage locomotives, according to Shailendra Tripathy, chief electrical engineer, CLW, "would mainly be assigned to chug goods trains in the West-East dedicated freight corridor. Also some high-speed passenger trains, like Shatabdi, Duronto, Rajdhani Express, may be equipped with such locos".

But, it would still take at least three years to see India producing 9,000-HP locomotives.

The Indian Railways, incorporated in 1947, owns 9,000 locomotives in all but presently it can afford producing 5,000-HP, 5,400-HP and three-phase 6,000-HP locomotives.

The country's ambition for producing 9,000-HP locomotives could be realised only after India changed its blueprint by allowing introduction of electric locomotives in the Western freight corridor in 2008, which consequently helped Japan to come forward and lend financial contribution to the project.

Japan stressed on absolute electrification on environment grounds.

According to Railway Board officials, Delhi has given clearance for import of 20 new-class 9,000-HP locos from Japan initially, which would subsequently be followed by another series of 12,000-HP locos.

After import of 20 units of 9,000-HP locos, Tripathy told The Statesman, "Japan would be sending knocked-down 20 such locos which would be assembled at Dankuni under supervision of CLW". But the rest 60, as he said, "would be built indigenously and the CLW would be providing important elements like traction motor for the locomotives".