Railways has manufactured a high speed locomotive under ‘Make In India’ initiative in West Bengal’s Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, achieving a top speed of 180km/hr.
‘…This new locomotive produced under ‘Make In India’ initiative, will speed up trains like never before,’ tweeted Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. According to a senior Railway official, WAP-7HS 30750 GZB shed High Speed Locomotive produced by CLW achieved speed of 180 kmph during statutory trials in RDT-LBN section of Kota Division on August 12.
This WAP-7HS Locomotive is capable of pulling 24 coach train at 160 kmph as against the present maximum service speed of 140 km per hour of WAP-7. CLW produced this Locomotive in March 2019, within six months of assigning this work to CLW September 2018) including design, simulations and production. This loco was dedicated to nation by Goyal on March 7 this year, the official said.
The complete design and development of locomotive have been done indigenously at CLW. The necessary simulation and modelling are carried out by CLW in-house. To enhance the speed of the locomotive, a weight reduction of about 14 tonnes have been carried out. The gear ratio changed from 3.6 (72:20) to 3.2 (70:22). The software modification has been carried out to optimize slip-slide control and tractive effort.
The new type of locomotive is expected to facilitate the operation of premium trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duranto at a higher speed.
(UNI)
