Electric Loco Shed, Ajni is a

motive power depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

performing locomotive maintenance and repair facility for

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

s of the

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 tot ...

, under its of the Central Railway division, located in ,

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India. It is one of the three electric locomotive sheds of the Central Railway, the others being at

Kalyan Kalyan (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) ...

(KYN) and

Bhusawal Bhusawal is the largest municipal council (established in 1882) in the Jalgaon district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, situated along the banks of the river Tapi. The city emerged as a major railway junction during the British Raj, and s ...

. As of December 2022, there are 300 locomotives in the shed.

History

After Central Railway set a deadline to eliminate all steam locomotive operations by 1990, a push was given towards establishing electric locomotion as the primary motive power, and the steam locomotive sheds were decommissioned. To meet the needs of exponentially increasing rail traffic on the new continuous broad-gauge lines from Odisha to rest of India with the completion of gauge conversion, the Ajni was selected by Indian Railways for a new electric locomotive shed. In the late 2003

WAM-4 The Indian locomotive class WAM-4 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1970 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), alternating current (A), mixed traffic ( ...

were introduced which stayed until late 2000, when they were transferred to Itarsi It later got a large fleet of

WAG-7 The Indian locomotive class WAG-7 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1990 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), alternating current (A), goods traffic (G ...

locos from other sheds.

Operations

Being one of the three electric engine sheds in Central Railway, various major and minor maintenance schedules of electric locomotives are carried out here. It has the sanctioned capacity of 200 engine units. Beyond the operating capacity, this shed houses a total of 284 engine units,all

WAP-7 The Indian locomotive class WAP-7 is a class of 25 Volt, kV Alternating current, AC Electric locomotive, electric locomotives that was developed in 1999 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for 5 ft 6 ...

units. It also housed a few WAM-4 locomotives temporarily. Electric loco Shed, Ajni is now housing a large fleet of

in Indian Railways and it caters to many long-distance electric trains. Like all locomotive sheds, AJNI does regular maintenance, overhaul and repair including painting and washing of locomotives. It not only attends to locomotives housed at AJNI but to ones coming in from other sheds as well. It has four pit lines for loco repair. Locomotives of Ajni ELS along with Itarsi ELS were the regular links for all trains running through maharashtra when widespread electrification of railway lines started in East coast Railways. AJNI locomotives are also used for Rajdhani trains as well.

Livery and markings

Ajni WAP-7 has Haldiram's Sweets & Namkeens advertised on loco's body side. Ajni locomotives have a standardized livery all over India.

Locomotives

Electric Loco Shed

References

External links

Website

maps of Indian Railway Loco Sheds

showing the Ajni Electric Loco Shed
{{Locomotives Sheds of India A Nagpur CR railway division Rail transport in Maharashtra 2005 establishments in Maharashtra