Alstom All-Electric Locomotive For India

Alstom said it has completed its first all-electric locomotive in India from its locomotive facility at Madhepura in the State of Bihar. The facility is a joint venture between Alstom (74%) and Indian Railways (26%) 

The locomotive is the first part of a €3.5 billion order comprising 800 electric double-section locomotives signed in 2015. The agreement contributes to the Indian Ministry of Railways’ public-private partnership program to modernize the country’s rail infrastructure. Alstom said the agreement remains the largest Foreign Direct Investment in the railways sector to date and is also one of the biggest contracts in the history of Alstom.

With an output of 12,000 hp, each double section locomotive, part of Alstom’s Prima locomotives family, has a hauling capacity of 6000 tonnes and speed of 120km/hr. Equipped with an insulated-gate bipolar transistor-based propulsion technology (IGBT), a three-terminal power semiconductor device primarily used as an electronic switch which combines high efficiency and fast switching.

The locomotives were developed with the support of six Alstom sites in France: Belfort for the first six car bodyshells, Ornans for the motors, Tarbes for the traction, Le Creusot for bogies, Villeurbanne for the train control monitoring systems and Saint-Ouen for the design.

In another development, Alstom announced three new contracts worth approximately €75 million: a power supply contract from the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (MMRCL); a contract for new train sets from Chennai Metro Rail Corp.; and another power supply contract from Jaipur Metro Rail Corp.

Additionally, phase 1 in the construction of the electric locomotive facility at Madhepura and the depot at Saharanpur is complete and work is progressing as per the contractual timelines.