Railways roll out new loco to save power, reduce noise

At present, these flagship air-conditioned trains are powered by diesel generator coaches attached to both ends. The new locomotive of the WAP 7 class has been fitted with a technology called the 'head on generation scheme' to power the trains and the pantry as well as run the air-conditioning system.

WAP 7 locomotives mostly haul the prestigious Rajdhanis to Howrah and Mumbai and Shatabdis to Bhopal and Amritsar. According to a senior Railway official, there would be substantial reduction in the energy bill with commissioning of locomotives with such technologies.

"The electricity produced by running diesel generator coach sets on present trains costs Rs 8 per unit whereas after replacement with the new locomotive with this technology, the cost will be limited to Rs 4 per unit," he said. With the replacement of the diesel generator coaches, passengers would also be spared of the noise and the smoke emitted by them, he said.

"Railways could also think of introducing two more passenger coaches after replacing the diesel generator coaches," he said. The WAP 7 locomotives have also proven to be highly energy efficient due to the availability of regeneration breaking system technology, he said.

The new locomotive has been rolled out by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, which is also engaged in providing air conditioning facilities in some of the existing fleet of locomotives under a Railway policy to reduce the fatigue level of loco-pilots.