Indian Railways turns to private players to help meet its electrification dreams

The deccan queen, a crown jewel of the Indian railways, is heritage on rails. India’s first electric express train, launched in 1930, runs between Pune and Mumbai. So, when it switched to a diesel locomotive in April this year, it was unsettling for railway enthusiasts. The reason? A shortage of high-power electric locomotives required to pull the train on the steep inclines of the Western Ghats.

In an increasingly climate-conscious world, where there is a rush for electric mobility, India is witnessing a slowdown in the availability of electric locomotives. Adding to the woes is a scarcity in diesel locomotives, mostly due to stabling since 2022 following the ramp-up of the electrification drive. Stabling is keeping idle or storing of locomotives. The shortage is pinching even freight train operators.

Experts say the production of electric locomotives has not kept pace with track electrification. The changes in rules for captive freight movement inside sidings have made things worse.

Lalit Chandra Trivedi, former general manager, East Central Railway, explains that earlier, the system allowed for private sidings, especially those belonging to industrial sectors such as coal, cement, steel, and aluminium, to deploy their own dedicated locomotives for internal shunting and movement of freight within plant premises.

“These operations were integrated with the Indian Railways (IR) network via designated interchange yards, where the IR locomotive would deliver or receive the rake and be released immediately, ensuring high asset turnover. This system has changed with the adoption of the “Engine-on-Load” policy. Now, the same IR locomotive is required to perform the internal shunting operations within private sidings, leading to increased turnaround times with locomotives being held up inside private sidings,” he says.

He further adds Indian Railways is currently facing an acute shortage of locomotives due to a combination of reasons. “While electrification of railway routes has progressed at an unprecedented pace, the corresponding ramp-up in electric locomotive production has not kept pace. A large number of diesel locomotives—many of which still had significant residual operational life—have been prematurely grounded,” says Trivedi.

Railways has taken swift steps to meet the challenge. It has increased the target for electric locomotive production by 10% in the current fiscal with its three major production units—Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, Patiala Locomotive Works and Banaras Locomotive Works—going all out to ramp up production. The target for electric locomotive production is 1,626 in this year (FY26) and 1,700 in FY27 compared to 1,481 and 1,272 in FY25 and FY24, respectively. In a record, the CLW, in the first quarter of FY26, has produced 200 locomotives. The budgetary allocation for the three units saw a 25% jump with `14,739 crore allocated in FY26 compared to `11,884 in FY25.

With A Little Help

In view of the shortage, the contribution of private players such as Siemens India and Alstom is becoming more important. The two are focusing on manufacturing long-haul heavy freight electric locomotives to run on the dedicated freight corridor. Alstom is providing 100 high-power electric locomotives annually to the Railways for freight service. Siemens will provide 1,200 locomotives over 11 years; the first was delivered in May his year.

India has around 4,397 diesel locomotives. The Railways has decided to keep 2,500 for disaster management and strategic purpose. Only 1,000 locomotives have been assigned to continue operations. Also, every year, 2-3% locomotives enter the end of life, which means that of the total locomotive strength of around 15,000, 300-450 go out of the system. The lifespan of a locomotive is around 35 years.

Sanjiv Garg, former Additional Member, Railway Board, says the railway ministry took a decision in 2018 for 100% electrification as part its 2030 Net Zero target and decided to replace all diesel engines with electric.

“It was a flawed decision. The idea should have been to electrify the high density network rather than branch lines. The cost of overhead equipment (OHE) is `2 crore per km. Now, in case of a natural calamity or train accident, if the OHE network is damaged, the entire railway network will be impacted. In such situations, diesel locomotives are required for immediate relief and restoration purposes,” says Garg, now Secretary General of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, which represents transport and logistics industries worldwide.

Garg questions how thermal-powered electric locomotives can be greener than diesel locomotives. “Both are powered by fossil fuels,” he says, adding that diesel locomotives should have remained functional on the branch network. “Condemnation of productive diesel locomotives prematurely means wastage of a high-cost resource, as some of the diesel engines still have 15-20 years operational life. Railways should have gradually phased them out and slowly ramped up electric locomotive production as per requirement,” he says. Several countries still run diesel locomotives. The Railways is repurposing the condemned diesel locomotives for countries in Africa after gauge conversion.

Interestingly, Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Iran conflicts have made countries realise the importance of retaining diesel locomotives for contingencies as power grids are a prime target in any war. Ukraine, engaged in war with Russia, has ordered 225 diesel locomotives and the overhauling of 75 existing locomotives from US-based Watbtec (former GE Transportation).

The decision, announced in April this year, came in the wake of Russia’s repeated attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, impacting railways. In 2020, Ukraine had decided to completely switch to electric locomotives.

Diesel Challenge

The move towards electrification has forced companies to tweak their plans. Watbtec is focusing on the ‘Make in India for Export’ initiative, with the first two locomotives headed to Guinea in West Africa after being flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently.

Under the ‘Make in India’ programme, Watbtec’s plant in Marhowra, Bihar, was tasked with supplying 1,000 fuel-efficient, emission-compliant diesel-electric Evolution Series locomotives as part of a $2.5-billion public private partnership.

This state-of-the-art plant commenced operations in 2018. In all, 700 locomotives have already been supplied. The remaining 300 will be supplied by FY28. These engines, with a 35-year lifespan, will become part of the Railways’ 2,500-strong emergency fleet.

There are concerns around the future of the Marhowra factory. “The contract stands (for delivery of the remaining 300 locomotives). For the future, we will focus on local domestic opportunities with railways, export, and components so that the massive infrastructure is used,” says Sujatha Narayan, Senior Vice President and India Region Leader from Watbtec.

These high-power locomotives—with a combination of 4,500 horsepower and 6,000 horsepower—were for freight movement. However, all trains on both east and west dedicated freight corridors are now hauled by electric locomotives.

Watbtec is also exploring export options with the first two of the 70 ordered by Rio Tinto are headed to Africa. These will support rail operations for the Simandou high-grade iron ore project, located in southeast Guinea, Africa’s largest mining and infrastructure development project. Watbtec has an export order for 140 locomotives.

Freight Delays

The electric locomotive shortage is acting as a roadblock to railways’ plans to double the freight share in the next five years from the present 27%. Container train operators (CTOs) have been demanding permission for the private sector to procure locomotives and maintain rolling stock. At present, CTOs in India cannot own locomotives. This differs from the private freight train operators of other countries such as Germany, the US, and the UK, where freight train operators can exercise more control over their delivery schedules by owning and operating their locomotives.

“In India, the supply of locomotives is the responsibility of Indian Railways; thus, CTOs depend on these locomotives’ availability. Since the locomotives are shared between passenger and freight trains, their availability is uncertain, particularly when a locomotive breaks down en route. This translates into a loss of revenue because of the reduced number of trips and penalties for delayed delivery,” says a recent report by Ficci.

According to freight players, improvements have been noted in terms of locomotive supply at terminals.

However, en route delays continue to pose a substantial challenge, and to overcome them, it is essential to manage the availability of locomotives around high-density routes, ensuring prompt response during breakdowns.

According to the CTOs, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation India Ltd is in discussion with the Railways to consider developing its locomotive capabilities instead of relying solely on assets of the Railways.

Private Participation

The two aforementioned private players—Siemens Ltd and Alstom—are complementing the electric locomotive demand of the Railways. Alstom delivered its 500th 12,000 horsepower (HP) engine early this year, while Siemens is starting its production line for 9,000 HP electric engines in Dahod. Both are one of the most powerful freight locomotives in the world.

For Siemens, approximately 90% technologies in locomotives are made in India with factories in Nashik, Aurangabad, and Mumbai manufacturing critical components, with final assembly, testing and commissioning performed at the Indian Railways’ factory in Dahod.

Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Ltd, says the company takes pride in partnering with the Railways in this prestigious project.

“Together with the Railways, we have been able to construct a world-class factory. The introduction of these advanced locomotives is crucial to realising the government of India’s aspiration to elevate the Railways’ share in freight movement from 27% to around 45%,” says Mathur. On the other hand, Alstom’s 12000 HP locomotives are being built at one of India’s largest integrated greenfield manufacturing facilities at Madhepura (Bihar), under a joint venture with the Railways.

This is the largest foreign direct investment project in the railway sector. The facility has an installed production capacity of 120 locomotives per annum. Alstom has progressively achieved nearly 90% localisation.

The production ramp-up has clearly begun, but it will take time for the demand-supply gap to narrow.

@richajourno