Siemens Mobility secures €3bn locomotive contract from Indian Railways

Siemens Mobility has secured an INR 26,000 crores (approximately €3bn) contract to supply 1,200 electric locomotives of 9,000 horsepower to the Indian Railways over an eleven-year period.

Under the agreement, the separately-managed company of Siemens will design, manufacture, commission, and test the locomotives as well as provide full-service maintenance for 35 years.

Siemens Mobility along with the staff of Indian Railways will assemble the locomotives at the railways factory in Dahod, Gujarat and perform maintenance at four depots, namely Vishakhapatnam, Kharagpur, Raipur, and Pune.

Roland Busch — Siemens CEO said: “Siemens is supporting the sustainable transformation of India’s transportation sector as the country seeks to almost double freight capacity on its railways.

“I’m proud that this major order will help India achieve its ambitious goal of creating the world’s largest green rail network, as our locomotives will save more than 800 million tons of CO2 emissions over their lifecycle.”

Siemens Mobility secures €3bn locomotive contract from Indian Railways. Photo courtesy of Siemens.

Specified to haul loads of 4,500 tons at a maximum speed of 120 km per hour, the Indian Railways will use the locomotives for freight transport throughout its network.

The freight locomotives will feature Siemens’ Railigent platform and advanced propulsion systems.

Michael Peter — Siemens Mobility CEO said: “These new locomotives will help increase freight transport on one of the world’s largest rail networks, as they can replace between 500,000 to 800,000 trucks over their lifecycle.”

With 24 million passengers traveling on more than 22,000 trains every day, the Indian Railways is considered to be one of the world’s largest rail networks.

The Indian government anticipates to increase the share of railways for freight transport to 40-45% from the existing around 27%.

The Indian Railways and the Indian government are committed to reaching net zero CO2 emissions by 2030.