The Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) (formerly Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW)) in

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, is a production unit of

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

. DLW stopped manufacturing diesel locomotives in March 2019 and was renamed BLW in Oct 2020.

History

Founded in 1961 as the DLW, it rolled out its first locomotive three years later, on 3 January 1964. It manufactures locomotives which are variants based on the original

ALCO The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

designs dating to 1960s and the GM EMD designs of the 1990s. In July 2006, DLW outsourced manufacture of some locomotives to Parel Workshop, Central Railway, Mumbai. In 2016, it bagged "Best Production Unit Shield 2015-16" The first phase of expansion project of BLW was initiated in 2016. In 2017, it bagged the "Best Production Unit Shield 2016-17" for 2nd consecutive year. In 2018, it bagged the "Best Production Unit Shield 2017-18" of Indian Railways for 3rd consecutive year. In March 2018 it successfully converted two old ALCO diesel loco

WDG-3A The Indian locomotive class WDG-3A is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 1994 by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW),Varanasi for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad-gauge (W), Diesel (D), Goods traffic (G) engin ...

into an electric loco WAGC-3 (WAG-10), a first in the world. DLW stopped manufacturing diesel locomotives in March 2019 and was renamed BLW in Oct 2020. It was the largest diesel-electric locomotive manufacturer in India. In March 2019, it developed the country's first bi-mode locomotive, the WDAP-5. BLW today produces mostly electric locomotives

WAP-7 The Indian locomotive class WAP-7 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1999 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic ...

WAG-9 The Indian locomotive class WAG-9 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1995 by ABB Group (ABB) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Goods traffic (G), 9th generation (9) ...

Market

Besides the Indian Railways, BLW regularly exports locomotives to other countries such as Sri Lanka,

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and also to a few users within India, such as ports, large power and steel plants and private railways.

References

External links

Company website
{{Authority control Locomotive manufacturers of India Buildings and structures in Varanasi Manufacturing plants in Uttar Pradesh Economy of Varanasi 1961 establishments in Uttar Pradesh

History

Market

See also

References

External links