Dankuni workshop of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works to roll out first engine by Jan

The first locomotive from the Dankuni workshop of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works is expected to roll out in the next four months, the locomotive factory’s general manager C P Tayal said on Saturday .He said that the first locomotive to roll out from Dankuni would be a three-phase 6,000 horsepower WAG-9H locomotive with regenerative brakes.The regenerative brakes make this class of locomotives much more energy-efficient.

Chittaranjan Locomotive Works already builds WAG-9 and WAG-9H locomotives at its main works in Chittaranjan.The WAG-9H is an advanced version of the WAG-9, one of the most powerful locomotives used to haul goods trains. The most advanced locomotive for passenger trains that Chittaranjan Locomotive Works builds is the WAP-7. This three-phase locomotive, imported from Sweden, is also of 6,000 horsepower and has regenerative brakes.

“We expect the first locomotive to roll out from Dankuni before January , 2016. This will be a WAG9H. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works is now shifting its focus to threephase locomotives from conventional ones. In 2015-16, the Railway Board has set a target of building 285 locomotives.This will include 215 threephase ones,“ Tayal said.

“In 2014-15, Chittaranjan produced 250 locomotives, including 145 three-phase ones, which is an all-time record. In 2016-17, we plan to build 280 more locomotives. In 2017-18, we will take the figure up to 320,“ he added.

Concentrating on reliability improvement, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works has also redesigned and increased thickness of the bogie frames of WAG-9 and WAP-7 locomotives.

TOI