Railways to buy high-speed locomotives from foreign suppliers

The Dollar Business Bureau

The government is currently working on a plan to upgrade Indian railways, as the Ministry of Railways has announced Rs.500 crore investment to purchase high-speed locomotive and technology from global high-speed train manufacturers and suppliers.   

In the first phase, the government will float a global tender to acquire ten high-speed electric locomotive trains with a capacity to run at 200 kmph and beyond.

The Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata rail corridors will be upgraded first, making them suitable for clocking 200 kmph speed.

At present, Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Duronto trains run at a maximum speed of 130 kmph on Delhi-Kolkata track. Only one high-speed train, Gatimaan Express, is running at 160 kmph on the Delhi to Agra route.

The successful bidder will take responsibility of transferring the technology of the high power locomotives and its maintenance, in addition to supplying 10 locos to the Indian railways.

The Railway Ministry’s Rs.500 crore high speed project includes purchasing high-speed locomotives, transferring technology and maintaining operations for a period of 13 years in line with the bidding framework.

The high-speed locomotives are estimated to attach 22-24 coaches train running at 200 kmph on Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Mumbai routes to bring down the travel time.

The railways has already started to manufacture Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches with their speed capacity of 200 kmph from therailway coach factory at Kapurthala.

Talgo coaches, also developed for achieving higher speed on the existing tracks, will also be attached with these high-speed locomotives trains.