Roll out of India’s most powerful and modern rail engine likely to spur exports, revolutionise freight ops

NEW DELHI: The roll out of India’s single most powerful and modern electric rail engine with 9,000 horsepower (HP) by PM Narendra Modi marks a new beginning as this loco can pull freight trains with a load of 4,500-5,000 tonnes at a top speed of 100 kmph.

Railway officials said this will not only bring a revolution in freight operations, but they are hopeful the engines will also find takers across the globe. While broad-gauge electric locomotives are being manufactured for Indian Railways, standard-gauge locos are being produced for the export market.

Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the train engine manufactured at the Dahod Locomotive Workshop will run in other parts of the world as well. He added that the loco features regenerative braking systems, aimed at lowering energy consumption and supporting environmental sustainability.

“This comes at a time when railways is targeting to increase the share of cargo transport by rail and faster transportation. This is going to be a big boon in bringing down logistics cost and help decongest the saturated tracks,” said a senior official.

As per the plan, the Dahod railway workshop will produce 1,200 such locos over 11 years. The foundation stone for this Rs 21,405 crore project was laid by the PM in April 2022 and the first electric locomotive rolled out on Monday, in a record time of just 37 months.

Officials said the locomotive has been manufactured using green energy and it has a “green” manufacturing tag. The engine is compatible with digital tracking system, Kavach and green features with a three-phase propulsion system.

Flagging off the engine, Modi said India is now exporting Metro coaches to Australia and train coaches to England, Saudi Arabia, and France. Mexico, Spain, Germany, and Italy also import railway-related components from India.

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