Railways picks Siemens for Rs 26,000-crore contract for manufacturing and maintenance of 1200 locomotives

The Indian Railways has issued a Letter of Award (LoA) for the Manufacturing and Maintenance of 9000 HP Electric Freight Locomotives to Siemens, India. The technology partner, Siemens, will manufacture 1200 locomotives at the Railways factory over a period of 11 years. The estimated value of the contract is Rs 26,000 crore excluding taxes and price variation.

The contract will entail the manufacturing of 1200 High Horsepower (9000 HP) electric locomotives and their maintenance for 35 years.  The technology partner also has the responsibility to ensure 95 percent availability and 1,50,000 km of trouble-free operation of locomotives before any maloperation. This is specified as one of the guaranteed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

The agreement with Siemens India will be signed within 30 days of the issue of LoA, and the proto-type locomotives are to be delivered in the next two years.

Siemens will manufacture the electric locomotives at Dahod locomotive factory in Gujarat and maintain them at four depots at Visakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur, and Pune, according to the official statement.

Siemens will also provide training to railway staff at Dahod for manufacturing these locomotives.

The high horsepower locomotives will be the future workhorse for freight operation on Indian Railways. They are planned to be primarily used on the western dedicated freight corridor and on graded sections of Railways. They will be used for hauling container freight trains in double stack configuration of 4500 tonnes at 75 kmph at 1 in 200 gradients. The average speed of such trains will be improved to around 50-60 kmph over the existing 20-25 kmph.

The quantum jump in the operating parameters will lead to an increase and enhancement in line capacity. These locomotives will be equipped with state-of-the-art IGBT-based propulsion technology. They will provide savings in energy consumption with regenerative braking technology.

There is also a provision to manufacture and supply Standard Gauge locomotives for the export market.