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 and WAG D-9.

The WAG-9 class was built to haul freight trains. A passenger variant of the WAG-9 was developed, the WAP-7, with a modified gear ratio to pull lighter loads at higher speeds. EF9K, previously known as WAG-9HH which has a power of 9,000 hp has been developed. EF12K, a new evolution of WAG-9 locomotive has been developed with 12,000 hp.

Introduction

The WAG-9 locomotive is a "Heavy Haul" freight locomotive, conceived in response to the growth in rail freight. The need for more electrification and electric locomotives in India had increased. Around 80-85% of freight transported on Indian Railways goes over electrified lines 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.

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.

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.

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 issues that were associated with the original version. Nowadays, it is quite common to see special passenger trains hauled by WAG-9 locomotives. Many express services, as the Ballia Express, Bhagirathi Express and many other Mail Express category trains sometimes use WAG-9 locomotives. The WAG-9 locomotive is similar to the non-HOG WAP-7.

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.

Locomotive sheds +ZoneNameShed CodeQuantityIntroduction YearWAG-9WAG-9HEF9KEF12KCentral RailwayBhusawalBSLL1702018DaundDNDE502024AjniAQE2392000PunePADX382022KalyanKYNE22026Eastern Railway AsansolASNL3232020BardhamanBWNX492026East Central RailwayPt. Deen Dayal UpadhyayaDDUE21352020GomohGMOE12181997BarauniBJUE1992019PatratuPTRX51472020East Coast RailwayAngulANGE1462023Northern RailwayGhaziabadGZBE352023LudhianaLDHE2242015KhanalampuraKJGE1602019Tughlakabad(D) TKDD 1132022North Central RailwayKanpurCNBE2302016JhansiJHSE902024Jhansi(D) JHSD342026North Eastern Railway GondaGDDE1032021GorakhpurGKPL252025Saiyedpur BhitriSYHE872022Izzatnagar IZNE812023Northeast Frontier RailwayMalda TownMLDD2142021SiliguriSGUD162022New GuwahatiNGCD562023North Western RailwayBhagat Ki KothiBGKD1032023Southern RailwayArakkonamAJJE1232020ErodeEDLS532026South Central RailwayLallagudaLGDE52952007KazipetKZJL329142013 Moula AliMLYD712023South Coast RailwayVijayawadaBZAE992021Vijayawada(D)BZAD262026 Guntakal GTLE162026GootyGYD1412019VisakhapatnamWATE 229102014Visakhapatnam (D)WATD1662021South Eastern RailwayTatanagarTATE2242010BondamundaBNDL2842016Bokaro Steel CityBKSE2902019RourkelaROUE3052019South East Central RailwayBhilaiBIAE272512009RaipurRPDX45142025BilaspurBSPE216352020 South Western RailwayKrishnarajapuramKJMD1062020HubballiUBLD1392022Western Railway Vadodara BRCE14022024 Valsad BLEE 1312020VatvaVTAD1522023SabarmatiSBT 342024West Central RailwayTughlakabadTKDE2120662008New Katni Jn.NKJE19232392017ItarsiETE1942020New Katni Jn.(D)NKJD 321742025Total84753059231Total Locomotives Active as of October 20267904

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 , 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 at and closer to at higher speeds. Below is the capacity of the WAG-9 while hauling BOX wagons (in tonnes):

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 Indian Railways Locomotives of India Rail transport in India

References

External links

IR WAG-9 @ Trainspo