As the New Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express entered the city on Wednesday morning, it was photographed at almost all stations and welcomed with cheer by commuters. For the first time, one of the country’s fastest locomotives — a Swiss WAP-5 class engine — had arrived in the city, thanks to the conversion to alternating current.
The engine can accelerate a 24-coach (weighing about 1,430 tonnes) passenger train to 110kmph in 312 seconds (over a stretch of 6km).
With this, the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani will also be faster. The particular locomotive that brought in the train this morning is also a special one. It is numbered 30001, maintained at Ghaziabad shed, and is one of the 10 original locomotives that had been initially imported by Indian Railways from Switzerland.
“The loco has a massive speed potential of 225kmph, though it is certified to run at 160kmph here. For Mumbai Rajdhani, it will run at 130kmph soon, cutting down the journey time,” an official said.
There are variants now and this engine is manufactured at Chittaranjan Loco Works, West Bengal. “We had been waiting for this loco to arrive in Mumbai since ages and finally it happened today,’’ a rail fan and a software engineer, who took off from work to spot this locomotive said.
“I was stopped by the railway cops while photographing it, but managed to dodge myself from the situation and managed to get two clicks,’’ he said.
In the evening, when the Rajdhani departed from Mumbai Central, railway babus broke a coconut and decorated the locomotive as a welcome gesture. “Seamless connectivity for trains in Mumbai has begun from today,’’ a senior official said.
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