Thursday, July 11, 2013

New locomotive from US to join the Brazilian beauty in metro rail depot

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

After the arrival of the first four-rake metro train from Brazil at Rs 198 crore state-of-the art depot in Koyambedu, Chennai Metro Rail is set to get a locomotive from the United States in the next few months.

An official from National Railway Equipment Company (NREC) told Express that the company will be exporting 700 horse power diesel locomotive from the United States in a couple of days.

“The shunting engine will be exported in the next couple of days from the United States depending upon the sailing status of the ship. This locomotive is a state of the art machine that is fuel efficient up to 40 per cent when compared to the conventional diesel engines and has reduced emission up to 70 per cent,” the official said.

He said the engine is compatible to Euro III-A standards. This engine will come handy during the shunting purposes as well as during the emergency operation.

The official said that the locomotive could be used when there is a power failure in the metro rail grid. During such eventualities, the locomotive could be used to pull out the rakes stranded in the tunnel or in the elevated stretch. “Since it runs on diesel, it will be quite handy. This is the first of its kind. Usually other metros have battery operated locomotives,” said the official. 

Interestingly, this would be the second such export. Already, Chennai Metro Rail will be getting nine trains shipped into Chennai from Brazil by the end of this year.

Interestingly, NREC is also planning to set up a plant in India. The foundation stone for a locomotive factory site at Sherpur in Sehore district has already been laid. The factory is a joint venture with Daulat Ram Engineering Services, which manufactures rolling stock components including traction motors, alternators and HVAC (Heat ventilation and air conditioning).
The plant will produce locomotives from NREC's N-ViroMotive family. Instead of a single large prime mover, these genset designs feature several small diesel engines with electronically controlled load sharing, he said.

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