Alstom has officially celebrated 10 years of Madhepura Electric Locomotive Private Limited (MELPL), its public-private partnership with Indian Railways.

Dedicated to building the country’s most powerful locomotives for freight service; the joint venture has seen the delivery of more than 550 indigenously manufactured high-powered double-section Prima T8 locomotives of 12,000 HP (9 MW).

The 300th WAG12B locomotive was flagged off in 2023

© Alstom

The milestone was commemorated at Alstom’s locomotive maintenance depot in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, during a celebration that looked back at an initial contract for 800 fully electric super powered double-section locomotives (and associated maintenance) first signed by the two companies in 2015.

Designated as WAG-12B; the locomotives are built at a manufacturing facility at Madhepura, Bihar. Production utilises 85% localisation, reinforcing India’s position as the 6th national globally to build such vehicles indigenously.

Olivier Loison, Managing Director, Alstom India, said:

This is a moment of immense pride, celebrating a strong and enduring partnership that has truly transformed freight movement in India. We have not only put India’s most powerful freight locos on the tracks but have also seen the creation of a world-class industrial ecosystem and laid a foundation for local talent and technology.

This project has been a powerful engine for ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, establishing a deep-rooted local supply chain and creating over 10,000 skilled jobs. Our commitment is stronger than ever to leverage this incredible legacy, drive the green logistics revolution, and continue powering India’s journey as a global hub for world-class rail solutions.

The first locomotive was inducted into commercial service in May 2020, and by October of that same year, the Ministry of Railways and Commissioner of Railway Safety / RDSO had certified the electric locomotives to operate at a top speed of 120 kilometres per hour before they entered service for passenger movement during the peak festive season.

In order to ensure availability; Alstom has also built two maintenance depots at both Saharanpur and Nagpur using predictive technologies. The two sites also provide Prompt Response Teams (PRT) across the country.

A manufacturing facility has also been constructed in Madhepura, Bihar, which aims to produce a total of 120 locomotives per annum.

The WAG-12B electric locomotives utilise regenerative breaking, and are fully equipped with Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) based propulsion technology. The units were designed at Alstom’s Engineering Centre in Bengaluru and use an eight-axle design.

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