Indian Railways (IR) acquired the first 12,000 HP electric locomotive under the Make in India initiative. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal is confident that introduction of this locomotive in IR would increase its efficiency and reduce carbon emission.
Crux of the Matter
Boost to Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) manufactured eight WAG12B locomotives under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. This locomotive is equipped with 12,000 HP engine which will give a maximum speed of 120 km/hr and produces energy to haul 6000 tonnes of weight. It relies on low power cables for its energy and is equipped with LED lights. Being a fully electric-based locomotive, WAG12B will help reduce carbon emission and therefore is being termed as ‘green loco’. It is also equipped with regenerative braking systems. The regenerative braking system stores the kinetic energy produced while applying brakes. It is manufactured under the €3.5 billion deal between Alstom and IR. In total 800 fully electric locomotives will be produced under this deal. IR has also signed a contract with Alstom Railway Services in which the latter would provide 11 years of service. Further, the WAG12-class locos will be used to power trains on Indian Railways’ Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) and conventional corridors.
Other Feats Nearly 20 lakhs migrant workers have been ferried by 1,565 ‘Shramik Special’ trains since 1st May 2020. 1700 migrant workers were ferried in one train instead of 1200 so that the maximum number of workers can reach their destinations. IR also announced the commencement of 200 non-AC passenger trains from June 1. On May 12, Indian Railways resumed 15 pairs of trains connecting Delhi with Dibrugarh (Assam), Agartala (Tripura), Howrah (West Bengal), Patna (Bihar), Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Secunderabad (Telangana), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Madgaon (Goa), Mumbai Central (Maharashtra), Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Jammu Tawi (Jammu and Kashmir).
Curiopedia
Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir also known as Jean J. Lenoir was a Belgian engineer who developed the internal combustion engine in 1858. Lenoir’s engine was commercialized in sufficient quantities to be considered a success, a first for the internal combustion engine.
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway was India’s first passenger railway, which was headquartered in Bombay. It was taken over by the Government in 1925 and was later (in 1951) incorporated into the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways).
The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick, a British engineer born in Cornwall. This used high-pressure steam to drive the engine by one power stroke. On 21 February 1804, the world’s first steam-powered railway journey took place when Trevithick’s unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.
Curated Coverage
Comments