Indian locomotive class WAG-9 explained

WAG-9
Powertype:Electric
Builder:
Builddate:1995-present
Length:20.562abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Width:3.152abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Height:4.525abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Totalproduction:5384 as of August 2024
Bogies:Adtranz Fabricated Flexicoil IV
Wheeldiameter:New: 1092abbr=onNaNabbr=on,
Half worn: 1054abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Full worn: 10160NaN0
Wheelbase:15.7m (51.5feet)
Uicclass:Co′Co′
Axleload:WAG-9 : WAG-9H/Hi/9i :
Locobrakes:Air and Regenerative
Trainbrakes:Air
Safety:Slip/slide control, Main overload relay, Over voltage relay, No volt protection, Vigilance Control Device, Fire Detection Equipment, Fire Extinguishers and Earth fault relay
Electricsystem: Overhead
Collectionmethod:dual pantographs
Multipleworking:2
Poweroutput:WAG-9 Original : 61200NaN0WAG-9HC : 61200NaN0

WAG-9HH/EF9K : 90000NaN0WAG-9TWIN/EF12K : 120000NaN0

Maxspeed:1000NaN0
Locoweight:WAG-9 : WAG-9H/9Hi/9i/9HH : WAG-9TWIN/EF12K:
Tractionmotors:WAG-9/9H/9i : Adtranz 6FRA6068
Tractiveeffort:WAG-9 Starting Effort : 475kN
WAG-9H/HH Starting Effort : 510kN
WAG-9TWIN Starting Effort:1040kN
Operator:Indian Railways
Fleetnumbers:Starting from
    • 31000-31999, 32000-32999, 33000-33999, 38000+ & 51001+ CLW 34001+ BHEL
  • 41000-41500 & 43000+ BLW
  • 41501+ PLW
Locale:All Over India
Disposition:Active

The Indian locomotive class WAG-9 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1995 by ABB for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Goods traffic (G), 9th generation (9) locomotive. They entered service in 1996. A total of 5140 WAG-9 have been built at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), with more units being built at Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Patiala Locomotive Works (PLW). It was the most powerful freight locomotive in the Indian Railways fleet until the introduction of the WAG-12.

The WAG-9 is one of the most successful locomotives of Indian Railways, serving freight trains since its introduction in 1995. A passenger variant of the WAG-9 was developed, namely the WAP-7 locomotive, by modifying the gear ratio to pull lighter loads at higher speeds. Nowadays, WAG-9 locomotives are commonly used to haul freight trains.

Introduction

The WAG-9 locomotive is referred to as the "Heavy Haul" freight locomotive of the Indian Railways (IR). It was conceived in response to the extreme growth in the rail freight transportation sector, which is considered to be of great importance to the growth of the economy of India. The need for more electrification and electric locomotives in India had increased. Around 60-65% of the freight haulage of the IR takes place on the electrified section of the Golden Quadrilateral (Indian Railways) and diagonals (which account for 25% of the route). These are very busy routes, so clearance is a necessity. Electrical powers give it a great sectional clearance ability. Thus, these locomotives are important for the Indian Railways.

These locomotives have entered the Western Railway zone of Mumbai. The first 22 units were imported from ABB. Of these, the first six were fully assembled and rest were in kit form. CLW started producing of WAG-9 traction motors on 1 November 1999. The units built by ABB have pantographs with two end horns while the CLW built units have pantographs with single end horns which are common in India. This class had a capacity to MU several units, but IR restricts them to two, because of dynamic loading restriction on most bridges. Regenerative brakes provide about 260 kN of braking effort.

The WAG-9H also has different application software than the WAG-9. The first WAG-9H was commissioned on 30 June 2000. The #30130 prototype was housed at Gomoh (GMO). This was then converted back to standard WAG-9 in 2002. This unit has a livery of twin white stripes on green, instead of yellow stripe on green, seen on the other WAG-9(x)s.

The WAG-9i was introduced in 2010, and was No. 31215. It was homed at the GMO shed. With IGBT, even if one traction motor failed, other traction motors can function with a total output of 5500 hp.

Newer WAG-9 units have "CLW Glorious 60 years" marked on their sides. Some WAG-9(x)s are fitted with a solid cowcatcher while others are fitted with grilled cowcatchers. Some have American style flasher lamps while others have Indian style flasher lamps.[1]

Newer versions of the WAG-9 feature full Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) traction control; the debut model was the WAG-9 31248. The class as a whole is denoted by the WAG-9i prefix in its model number, although there is a technical variant of this class named WAG-9H, with the "H" meaning "Heavy".

The WAG-9H/9Hi locomotives are the second heaviest in regular service in India (after the WAG-12), the only freight-dedicated three-phase AC locomotives in the country, and the only electric locomotives in India fitted with IGBT. They are also the freight locomotives with the highest operational speed in India.

It is similar to the WAP-7 class locomotive but features a different gear ratio, which makes it suitable for heavy freight operations. In November 1998, the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) started producing these with indigenous components. The first of which, named Navyug (New Era), was produced on 14 November 1998. Like the WAP-5 units, the WAG-9 has GTO thyristor converters and three-phase asynchronous motors.

Variants

The following variants are built from the WAG-9:

Operations

WAG-9 has quickly become one of the important locos in the Indian railways. With its higher power, this locomotive has replaced WAG-7 which was the main electric loco before WAG-9's arrival. Applications where twin WAG-7s were required are now handled by a single WAG-9. This includes both leading a long consist and for banking operations. The regenerative braking capabilities of WAG-9 has also helped reduce the electricity consumption. The original WAG-9 had some wheel slippage incidents while hauling heavy load. This was rectified through the introduction of WAG-9H and subsequently using WAG-9i. This has significantly reduced the issue that were associated with the original version. Nowadays, it is quite common to see special passenger trains hauled by WAG-9 locomotives.

Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) turned out its first 9,000 hp WAG-9 freight locomotive on 31 March 2019, the last day of the financial year. This 9,000 hp version of the WAG-9H has been classified by IR as WAG-9 HH. The first H stands for higher axle load and the second H stands for the higher power rating. The class has been allocated a block of serial numbers starting with 90001, the number of the first unit. The decision to upgrade the power output of the WAG-9 was taken to partly meet the demands of the upcoming electrified Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC). The upgraded locomotive class will also augment hauling capacity on the existing network of the Indian Railways.[2]

Locomotive sheds

Zone! rowspan="2" style="background:skyBlue;"
NameShed CodeQuantityIntroduction
WAG-9WAG-9HEF9KEF12K
Central RailwayBhusawalBSLL222013
DaundDNDE262024
AjniAQE2292000
PunePADX222022
AsansolASNL1572020
East Central RailwayPt. Deen Dayal UpadhyayaDDUE2592020
GomohGMOE42041997
BarauniBJUE1542019
PatratuPTRX51272020
East Coast RailwayVisakhapatnamWATE2062014
Visakhapatnam (D)WATD2252021
AngulANGE862023
Northern RailwayGhaziabadGZBE82023
LudhianaLDHE2292015
KhanalampuraKJGE1262020
TKDD 922022
North Central RailwayKanpurCNBE2282016
JhansiJHSE52024
GondaGDDX302021
Saiyedpur BhitriSYHE402022
IZND152023
Northeast Frontier RailwayMalda TownMLDD582021
SiliguriSGUD132022
New GuwahatiNGCD82023
North Western RailwayBhagat Ki KothiBGKD812023
Southern RailwayArakkonamAJJE332020
South Central RailwayVijayawadaBZAE942021
LallagudaLGDE52782007
KazipetKZJL31772013
GootyGYD1002019
VijayawadaBZAD202023
Moula AliMLYD372023
South Eastern RailwayTatanagarTATE1952010
BondamundaBNDL2442016
Bokaro Steel CityBKSE2142019
RourkelaROUE2262019
South East Central RailwayBhilaiBIAE268102009
BilaspurBSPE1992020
South Western RailwayKrishnarajapuramKJMD592020
HubliUBLD842022
BRCE252024
BLEE 1362020
VatvaVTAD762023
SabarmatiSBT 502024
West Central RailwayTughlakabadTKDE21130522008
New Katni Jn.NKJE1942017
ItarsiETE1452020
Total8752355210
Total Locomotives Active as of August 2024[3] 5384

Performance

Two WAG-9 class units can haul a load of on grades of 1 in 60 (1.67%). The WAG-9H was expected to haul 58 BOXN wagons, i.e.,, without multiple units on grades of 1 in 150 (0.67%). The locomotive can run even in 100% humidity, or in deserts, where there is high saturation of conductive particles. For shunting up to 15km/h, it can haul on grades of 1 in 1000 (0.1%) or less. The atmosphere may be humid and salty. Regenerative braking will provide braking force of no less than 260kN at 10km/h62km/h and closer to 260kN at higher speeds. Below is the capacity of the WAG-9 while hauling BOX wagons (in tonnes):[4]

Grade\km/h Start 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Level 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+
1 in 500 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 6000+ 4985 4150 3500
1 in 200 5060 5060 5060 5060 5060 4045 3325 2780 2365 2040
1 in 150 4250 4250 4165 4080 3985 3200 2640 2220 1895 1640
1 in 100 3205 2910 2870 2825 2775 2240 1855 1565 1345 1165
1 in 50 1820 1455 1445 1435 1420 1440 945 795 680 590

See also

References

  1. Web site: Study Material . .
  2. Web site: New 9,000 hp WAG-9 HH Locomotive Rolls Out of CLW. 2019-04-02. RailPost.in - Indian Railways News & Analysis. 2019-04-05.
  3. Web site: e-Locos.
  4. Web site: Trainweb.

External links

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