THREE PHASE ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES (a)       Need              Indian Railways imported 2900 HP passenger and freight locomotives alongwith transfer of technology from 50 cycles group in France in the year 1960.  The indigenous production of locomotive was taken up at CLW in the year 1965.  Indian Railways have been continuing with this technology for over 30 years and during this period improved it to optimise its use to produce 5000HP freight and passenger locomotives.  Further upgradation  was not possible. With the increase in train loads and need for higher speeds both for passenger and freight to enable hauling of more traffic with existing infrastructure, it became important to upgrade existing technology of electric locomotives and, thus IR decided to go for most modern three phase high horse power electric locomotives. (b)     Acquisition             IR have acquired 30 nos (10 passenger and 20 freight) high horse power ?state of the art? microprocessor controlled GTO thyristor based three phase drive electric locos from M/s Bombardier Transportation (earlier called ABB), Switzerland alongwith transfer of technology (TOT) to manufacture them indigenously  at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW). The contract was placed in july?1993. These locomotives have been received during the period Oct?95 to Oct?97 and have been put in service. (c)     Indigenous manufacturing by Indian Railways:         Through Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreement with Bombardier, Switzerland for 5 major electrical equipments i.e. Power Converter, Auxiliary Converter, Control Electronics, Transformer and Traction Motor to Indian Industry and  three other  items i.e. bogies, shell and traction motors to CLW, first indigenously built 3-phase electric locomotive was turned out by CLW on 14th Nov., 1998.  The cost of these locomotives has been progressively coming down  from the original import cost of Rs. 22 cr. (excluding custom duties) through indigenisation initiatives.  CLW  has so far manufactured 40 locomotives with indigenisation of major items and the cost per locomotive has come down to 12.5 cr. (d)  Salient data and  sections on which these locomotives are working: Passenger Locomotive (WAP5) Base shed : Ghaziabad (Northern Railway) Power  : 4000 KW Speed Potential : 160 kmph Operation:                   Locomotives are hauling the following prestigious trains mainly Rajdhanis and Shatabdis. 2301/2302 : New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Exp. 2421/2422 : New Delhi-Bhubneswar Rajdhani Exp. 2951/2952  : New Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Exp. 2433/2434 : HNZM-Chennai Rajdhani Exp. 2417/2418  : New Delhi-Allahabad Paryag Raj Exp. 2003/2004  : New Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Exp. 2001/2002  : New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Exp. 2011/2012 : New Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi Exp. Freight Locomotives(WAG9)    Base Shed  : Gomoh (East Central Railway) Power  : 4500 KW, 6000 HP Speed Potential  : 100 kmph Operation : 4700 T freight trains from EasternColleries to Northern India destinations. (e )     Features Regenerative braking leading to higher efficiency and energy conservation. Less maintenance due to adoption of electronic controls and 3 phase AC traction motors. Saving in power demand due to unity P.F (existing P.F is 0.85). Ability to haul heavier trains due to higher adhesion. Low wear on rails and disturbance to track geometry due to low unsprung   masses. Reduced harmonics with exclusive harmonic filter circuit. Underslung arrangement of compressors with no oil fumes and oil spillage inside the machine room. Micro processor based fault diagnostic system to facilitate maintenance. Crew friendly both in operation and trouble shooting. Low consumption of brake blocks on wagons/coaches Reduction in consumption of wheel discs of loco due to increased life of wheels. Availability of extra line capacity on saturated routes due to higher acceleration and balancing speeds. Higher engine kms /per day due to improved transit time and higher productivity. Reduced requirement of rolling stock due to lesser turn around period.