Great going! Indian Railways’ CLW-built, first WAP-7 electric locomotive of 6000 HP completes 20 years

Indian Railways’ first WAP-7 electric locomotive of 6000 HP completes 20 years! Built by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, NAVKIRAN- the first WAP-7 electric locomotive of 6000 HP bearing serial number 30201 was flagged off from the locomotive manufacturing factory, CLW on 10 May 2000, exactly 20 years ago. According to details shared by the national transporter, with the change of electric traction technology across the world, the technology based on GTO, which was initially used was later changed and upgraded to the latest Insulated Gate Bi-Polar Transistor (IGBT) based converter technology which is known to be more energy efficient around the world.

The Hotel load technology was introduced recently and at present, this locomotive is hauling prestigious train services like Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express trains over the Indian Railways network. This WAP-7 HS locomotive, with further improvements, has passed the trial run successfully at a speed of 180 km per hour and clearance was given to run at a speed of 160 km per hour over the Indian Railways network. Currently, the CLW is also working for upgrading the existing 6000 HP locomotive of the WAP-7 series to 9000 HP.

The CLW had received certification from the Limca Book of Records for creating a world record by manufacturing as many as 402 locomotives in the financial year 2018-19. Moreover, and in the financial year 2019-20, the locomotive manufacturing factory surpassed its own record by producing a total of 431 locomotives. Earlier it was reported that over the last six years, a jump of 75 per cent has been recorded in the production of locomotives by CLW, from 250 locos in 2014-15 to 431 locos in 2019-20.

With the improvement in the supply chain management, the locomotive manufacturing factory has been able to achieve this record in the financial year 2019-20 by consistently rolling out an average of 40 locos since the month of July 2019. It is being expected that CLW will be a torchbearer in Indian Railways’ electric locomotive manufacturing with the latest technology.