In a boost to the ‘Make-in-India’ initiative, Railways have inducted the 100th 12000 HP WAG locomotive manufactured by Madhepura Electric Locomotive (MELPL) at one of India’s largest integrated greenfield manufacturing facilities.

As part of the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) project of the Indian Railways, the Ministry of Railways and Alstom inked a Joint Venture worth Rs 25,000 crore in 2015.

Sustainable mobility provider Alstom is slated to deliver 800 completely electric high-powered double-section locomotives of 12,000 (9 MW) that will be used for freight services. It will be capable of haul 6,000 tonne at a speed of 120 km per hour and will be placed for operations on major freight routes that even include the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC).

The electric locomotives can also be tracked through the global positioning system (GPS) for its strategic use through embedded software and also, an antennae being lifted through the servers on the ground through a microwave link.

Madhepura in Bihar hosts an integrated green field manufacturing facility in which these Prima T8TM WAG-12B e-locos are built.

The manufacturing operation company and the national transporter had agreed on a deal in 2015 that led to the creation of this joint venture for the initiative, which is the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) project of the Railways.

These high horsepower locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving average speed and loading capacity of freight trains.