The first of the Prima T8 locomotive for India entered into commercial service at Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya station in Uttar Pradesh.
Known locally by the designation WAG-12, Alstom’s Prima T8 electric locomotive is the most powerful locomotive running on Indian railway network.
The new 12000-horsepower locomotives will allow faster and safer freight transport, being capable of hauling 6000 tonnes at a top speed of 120 km/h.
They are planned to be deployed on the Dedicated Freight Corridors increasing the average speed of freight trains in India by 25 km/h. Equipped with Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) propulsion technology, the e-locos will also allow considerable savings in energy consumption thanks to the use of regenerative braking.
Indian Railways and Alstom signed a EUR 3.5 billion contract in 2015 for the supply of 800 locomotives which are locally manufactured as part of Make-in-India initiative. The contract allowed for the manufacture of 800 double-section, 12000-horsepower Prima T8 locomotive for India for freight service and associated maintenance for a period of 11 years.
The contract also included the construction of a manufacturing plant at Madhepura for building the e-locos and two maintenance depots at Saharanpur and Nagpur.
The locomotives are designed at Alstom’s Engineering Centre in Bengaluru, the Prima T8 WAG-12 locomotives are being built in one of India’s largest integrated greenfield manufacturing facilities at Madhepura in Bihar. Spread across 250 acres, with a production capacity of 120 locomotives per year, the Madhepura site is built to international standards of safety and quality.
Two ultra-modern maintenance depots in Saharanpur and Nagpur will ensure the high service availability of the locomotives. The Saharanpur depot is already operational and the one in Nagpur is under construction. Equipped with the latest features, these depots will play a critical role in maintaining India’s most advanced freight locomotives at significantly lower costs.
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