Minister of Railways & Coal, Piyush Goyal laid the foundation stone for New Coaching Terminal at Nemom and unveiled WAP-7HS passenger locomotive through video conferencing here today. Shri Ghanshyam Singh, Member (Traction), Railway Board, Shri Rajesh Agarwal, Member (Rolling Stock), Railway Board, Shri Vishwesh Chaubey, Member (Engineering), Railway Board and other Senior Railway Officers were present on this occasion.Speaking on the occasion, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the present Government has consistently focused on development for all areas in the country. Focus has been on large scale infrastructure creation both physical and social.The Minister informed that this new coaching terminal at Nemom in the Thiruvananthapuram Division will help in decongesting the already overloaded current coaching terminals. With the commencement of work at this new coaching terminal, Indian Railways can start providing large number of new trains which will either originate or terminate in Thiruvananthapuram.He further informed that there is no Unmanned Level Crossings in the entire state of Kerala and all the stations have been converted into 100 % LED lighting. Indian Railways is committed to faster development of Kerala and committed to make Kerala a better tourism destination which will help transform the local economy and give a big boost to the generation of the employment and improve customer amenities and facilities for all the people using trains in Kerala. Indian Railways has started 3 new trains in Kerala namely Kochuveli - Indore Weekly Express, Thiruvananthapuram - Nizamuddin Weekly Express via Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram - Nizamuddin Weekly Express via Alleppey.
Shri Goyal expressed his happiness on the occasion of unveiling 100% indigenously developed Make-in-India high speed WAP-7 HS Locomotive which has been developed by Railway engineers completely in-house at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works.Shri Goyal congratulated all the engineers, workers and the entire railway family for one more feather in their cap to promote Make-in-India, to make India a hub of invention, innovation and manufacturing and to make India manufacturer of indigenously developed modern equipment which will help not only to improve the facilities for Indian Railways but will help to export to the rest of the world and earn foreign exchange and will be providing people the new job opportunities under Make-in-India programme.Shri Goyal further said, “The most powerful passenger locomotive over the Indian Railways which will be capable of hauling 24 coaches instead of 140 Kmph now at 160 kmph has been designed and manufactured at CLW by our own engineers and by our own workers making the entire nation proud of the Indian engineering talent and Indian skilled manpower talent. This new engine will help us serve the larger distances much faster and will reduce pollution level and will improve the operation initially of the premium trains.”
Salient features and facilities being developed at Nemom:
This Terminal will facilitate introduction of additional trains to/from Thiruvananthapuram area and remove the congestion being faced at Thiruvananthapuram Central station & Kachuveli.Thiruvananthapuram Central is an important station in Kerala and maintenance facilities are being provided at Kochuveli station. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop Coaching Terminal at Nemom to serve the people of the area which would reduce congestion at Thiruvananthapuram Central station. Nemom is considered ideal for origination/destination of trains. Coaching lines, Pit lines, Stabling lines with shunting neck, integrated sick lines facilities, RRI panel & associated building, connectivity to the proposed Vizhinjam International Container Terminal and booking office are proposed to be provided for operating trains to/from Nemom.
Development of High Speed WAP-7HS Locomotive
WAP-7 is the most powerful passenger locomotive over Indian Railways capable of hauling 24 coaches high speed trains. However, the maximum service speed of locomotive is 140 kmph. To operate the trains at faster speed and reduce the journey time, enhancing the maximum service speed of locomotive is necessary.Indian Railway has undertaken project of upgradation of speed potential of WAP-7 locomotives from 140 kmph to 160 kmph. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) turned out new version of WAP-7 locomotive (WAP-7HS) having potential of maximum service speed as 160 kmph. The complete design and development of locomotive have been done indigenously. The necessary simulation and modelling are carried out by CLW in-house. To enhance the speed of the locomotive, a weight reduction of about 14 tonnes have been carried out. The gear ratio has also been changed from 3.6 (72:20) to 3.2 (70:22). The software modification has been carried out to optimize slip-slide control and tractive effort. The locomotive shall be put into service after statuary tests and trials. The new type of locomotive is expected to facilitate operation of premium trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duranto at higher speed.