‘Made In India’ For Greener Railways: Siemens To Build 1,200 Electric Locomotives In Gujarat
Electric locomotives for goods transport (Siemens Mobility)Snapshot
Siemens Mobility bagged €3 billion contract to make 1,200 electric rail engines for Indian Railways.
Deliveries are planned over an eleven-year period and the contract includes 35 years of full service maintenance.
Producing 9,000 horsepower, these freight locomotives will be one of the most powerful in the world.
They are estimated to replace around 8,00,000 trucks over their lifecycle.
In the single largest locomotive order in its history, Siemens Mobility has received an order for 1,200 locomotives of 9,000 horsepower (HP) from Indian Railways.
As part of this around €3 billion (Rs 26,500 Crore) contract, Siemens Mobility will design, manufacture, commission and test the locomotives.
In the contract, deliveries are planned over an eleven-year period and it includes 35 years of full service maintenance.
While the locomotives will be assembled in the Indian Railways factory in Dahod (Gujarat), maintenance will be performed in four Indian Railways depots located in Kharagpur (West Bengal), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Pune (Maharashtra).
"Siemens is supporting the sustainable transformation of India’s transportation sector as the country seeks to almost double freight capacity on its railways. I’m proud that this major order will help India achieve its ambitious goal of creating the world’s largest green rail network," said Siemens CEO Roland Busch.
World’s most powerful freight locomotives
The state-of-the-art locomotives will be used for freight transport throughout the Indian Railways network and are specified to haul loads of 4,500 tons at a maximum speed of 120 km per hour.
According to the company, producing 9,000 HP, they will be one of the most powerful freight locomotives in the world.
These electric locomotives will be equipped with advanced propulsion systems that are also produced locally in Siemens Mobility factories in India.
“Siemens Mobility will use the power of its Railigent platform to deliver highest availability and performance,” the company said in a statement.
Highly beneficial to the environment
The electric locomotives to be manufactured by Siemens Mobility would not just help boost the freight transport of Indian Railways, it would also help India achieve its carbon emission containment goals.
Siemens Mobility estimates that these electric locomotives will save more than 800 million tons of CO2 emissions over their lifecycle.
Along with reducing carbon emissions, these locomotives would also help in reducing growth in usage of roads for freight and improve road safety as they are estimated to replace around 8,00,000 trucks over their lifecycle.
Also, it must be noted that these locomotives will be manufactured at Dahod facility using green energy and will have a green manufacturing tag.
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