INDIA’s prime minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first of 1200 D9 electric freight locomotives on May 26 at Indian Railways’ new factory in Dahod, Gujarat. The total value of the contract including maintenance for 35 years is €3bn.
Siemens Mobility is responsible for the design, manufacture and maintenance of the 6.7MW electric locomotives. Siemens is producing components for the new fleet at its factories in Nashik, Aurangabad and Mumbai with final assembly taking place in Dahod. The plant there, which was constructed in less than two years, has virtual reality-based safety training and a locomotive simulator.
The D9 locomotives have a maximum speed of 120km/h and will be able to haul freight trains up to of 5800 tonnes.
The locomotives are equipped with Siemens’ Railigent X predictive maintenance platform, digital tracking systems, Kavach safety system, and what Siemens describes as green propulsion technology.
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