India’s first 9000 horsepower (HP) locomotive engine manufactured in Dahod in Gujarat will have regenerative braking capability, said Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the first such locomotive to the nation.

Highlighting the new engine’s regenerative capability, Vaishnaw told a public gathering at Dahod, where PM Modi remained present, “This Made in Dahod engine will be exported. There is no noise or vibration (in this engine). The pilot cabin has air conditioning and a toilet. The interesting thing is that when the engine brakes, it becomes a generator and produces power.”

“The engine made in Dahod is of high quality and low cost and so we will be able to export it across the world. The engine has been christened D-9 which means Dahod-9000,” the minister said, adding that PM Modi had decided to set up the electric locomotive manufacturing unit at Dahod in 2022. 

During the occasion, a Vande Bharat train from Ahmedabad to Somnath was flagged off, and PM Modi also remotely flagged off an express train between Dahod and Valsad. “Till now 5 crore people have travelled in Vande Bharat trains,” Vaishnaw added.

Indian Railways is set to manufacture 1,200 locomotive engines in the next 10 years from this new unit at Dahod. A key feature of these engines manufactured at this Rs. 21,405 crore facility is their ability to carry cargo weighing up to 4,600 tonnes.

The 9000 HP, six-axle electric engine will have an average speed of 75 kilometres per hour, and maintenance will be carried out at depots in Kharagpur (West Bengal), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), and Pune (Maharashtra).