Indian Railways To Induct First 12,000 Horsepower High-Speed Electric Locomotive Today

The Indian Railways will today induct the first high-speed electric locomotive assembled in Bihar’s Madhepura loco factory, a joint venture between France and India, The Indian Express has reported.

The 12,000 horsepower (HP) locomotive will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. With its induction, India will join an elite list of countries, including Russia, China, Germany and Sweden, that have 12,000 HP locomotives. The most powerful electric engine in the Indian Railways till now was of 6,000 HP.

As part of this India-France joint venture, in which the Ministry of Railways has invested Rs 100 crore and holds 26 per cent share, 800 locomotives will be built for the Indian Railways over a period of 11 years. The project envisages a capital investment of around Rs 1,300 crore, a majority of which has come from France. While the joint venture will assemble five locomotives using kits from Franc, the remaining 795 will be manufactured under the 'Make in India' initiative.

The joint venture plans to manufacture 35 locomotives in the fiscal year 2019-20, 60 in 2020-21 and 100 electric engines per year from 2021-22.

These locomotive, which have a maximum speed of 110 km per hour, will most likley be used to run freight trains transporting coal and iron ore.