Next-gen tech to haul Indian Railway's freight train; Check details of WAG 12B e-Locos

A more sustainable, futuristic urban mobility, both in terms of public transport and freight movement is being advocated globally. With a fast-evolving economy that is at a cusp of significant transformation, sustainable transportation will play a key role in fulfilling the aspirations of new India. In line with the strong economy growth and rapid urbanization, the Government of India has undertaken a multi-pronged approach to modernize as well as decarbonize Indian Railways while exploring sustainable solutions for urban mobility.

Until recently, Indian Railways has been extremely independent and never had joint ventures for its large projects. Signing a partnership with in 2015 marked the beginning of a new era for Indian Railways. As part of this contract worth €3.5 billion, which is the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) for Indian Railways, Alstom is designing, manufacturing, and delivering 800 fully electric high-powered double-section locomotives of 12,000 HP (9 MW) for freight service. Till date, 275+ e-Locos have been delivered to Indian Railways and have cumulatively covered more than 40 million kms (as of Nov 2022).

These WAG 12B e-Locos have introduced novel features into Indian Railways freight trains, such as climate control systems, air conditioners, food preparation and storage facilities and toilets. It is also equipped with spacious cabins for loco pilots to work comfortably. Capable of hauling ~6,000 tonnes at a top speed of 120 km/hr, these e-Locos are enabling faster and safer movement of heavy freight while decongesting the railway network.

These locomotives are being manufactured in the world-class manufacturing facility in Madhepura and there are two ultramodern state-of-the-art maintenance depots at Saharanpur and Nagpur, that use predictive technologies to ensure high availability of India’s most advanced freight locomotives and reduce maintenance cost.

A ‘Make-in-India’ challenge that resulted in a technological breakthrough

As an innovative approach designed to shift from traditional mileage-based maintenance to condition-based predictive maintenance, these Indian Railways locomotives by Alstom use predictive maintenance tool - HealthHubTM. It offers a new approach to asset management through condition-based maintenance, providing greater efficiency in the overall maintenance process. The system optimises the lifecycle costs by extending the remaining useful life of all types of rail equipment, saving up to 20% in preventive maintenance labour and 15% in materials consumption. This package revolves around a series of data capture solutions which feed information in real time to plan ahead maintenance operations effectively.

HealthHubTM is supported by various high technology data capture solutions such as Train Tracer, an on-board real-time automated diagnostics portal capable of measuring the condition of three key consumables of a train as it moves through the portal: wheels, brake pads and pantograph carbon strips. It also monitors the condition of the relative infrastructure using tools installed on commercial trains and use predictive analytical techniques for future maintenance requirements.

Till date, over 1,800+ scheduled maintenances have been undertaken, which has helped achieve over 95% availability of these e-Locos.

Skill development of Indian Railways workforce

These depots also have a ‘Training Centre’ equipped with a loco simulator and smart classrooms. These play a crucial role in skill development of railway employees across the freight ecosystem – in loco workshops, signalling & telecom, OHE infrastructure. Till date, more than 15,000+ loco pilots have been trained.