The Indian Railways will speed up production of locomotives with regenerative braking feature, which reproduces electricity when brakes are applied thereby cutting down energy consumption. Production of such engines has already started and the Railways is now planning to expedite the process.
“The Chittaranjan locomotive Works (ClW), a production unit of the Indian Railways, made 270 electric locomotives out of which 170 had this regenerative braking feature. We have decided that from April 2014 onwards, all electric locomotives produced at the ClW will have this unique feature,” said Kul Bhushan, Member of Railway Board (Electrical).
locomotives without this feature cause loss of energy when loco pilots apply brakes on moving trains. However, when the pilot applies brakes on those with the regenerative braking feature, the motors of the locomotives which are normally pulling the train, change their mode of operation from motor to a generator.
The mechanical energy of the train is then converted into electrical energy and electricity produced is then routed to overhead wires through provisions already made in the engine. According to an estimate, an engine with this feature causes 32 to 35 per cent regeneration and results in saving nearly 15 per cent of electricity. “Indian Railways is currently saving electricity worth Rs 125 crore through these locomotives,” a Railway official said.
According to an estimate, one EMU with this feature saves Rs 1 crore per year. Since 180 rakes of similar EMUs are pressed into service in the Mumbai suburban railways, the savings in this sector is nearly Rs 180 crore.