Under a Rs 150 bln ($1.8 bln) tender the national operator expects to receive 100 locomotives for passenger trains operating at 160 km/h, and 500 ones for freight trains running at 100 km/h.
Each trainset is expected to have two 4.4 MW single-cab locomotives at both ends. The driver will operate the train from the head, and his assistant from the tail end. The future supplier will set up the production at Indian Railways’ BLW plant in Varanasi and maintain the vehicles for 35 years. The estimated cost of a locomotive is Rs 120 mln ($1.5 mln).
In October 2023, CLW plant at Chittaranjan produced the first two WAP-5 electric locomotives for the Vande Sadharan push-pull passenger train, which is undergoing trials now. This train is positioned as a more affordable version of the Vande Bharat trains.
