The Indian locomotive class WDG-4G (GE ES43ACmi) is a class of dual-cabin freight-hauling

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conv ...

used by 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 ...

(IR). The locomotive is designed by

GE Transportation GE Transportation is a division of Wabtec. It was known as GE Rail and owned by General Electric until sold to Wabtec on February 25, 2019. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generation ...

and is based on its Evolution Series, which are used in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The class is meant for freight hauling and replaces the older

American Locomotive Company 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 ...

(ALCO)-designed locomotives, which have been the mainstay diesels of

since 1962. Equipped with a 12-cylinder fully turbocharged GEVO engine, it is claimed to be 50% more environmentally friendly than its predecessors and is the first in the country to be compliant with level one of the emission norms set by the

International Union of Railways The International Union of Railways (UIC, french: Union internationale des wikt:chemin de fer, chemins de fer) is an international rail transport industry body. History The railways of Europe originated as many separate concerns, and there wer ...

(UIC-1). The locomotive has two cabs for easy reversal, both of which are air conditioned. The locomotive is part of a 13-year contract between Indian Railways and GE Transportation under which 700 such locomotives will be produced indigenously.

Diesel Locomotive Factory, Marhowrah The Diesel Locomotive Factory, Marhowrah is a joint venture of GE Transportation of the US with Indian Railways for the production of 1000 high-power freight locomotives over a period of 10 years designed to run on Indian railway tracks. This fac ...

was set up by GE for the production and supply of these locomotives which is also seen as a boost to the

Make in India Make in India is an initiative by the Government of India to create and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products made in India and incentivize dedicated investments into manufacturing. The policy approach was to creat ...

initiative. The maintenance of the locomotive will be GE's responsibility which will also have to ensure that 95% of the fleet is ready at all times. For this, real time remote tracking and fault diagnostics has been implemented in the locomotive.

Locomotive sheds

Development

The development of the locomotive can be traced back to a global tender floated by the

Ministry of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...

for the establishment of two different locomotive factories in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

. The tender also required that over 1,800 freight locomotives be supplied to Indian Railways. By September 2013, bids were received from six global firms:

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

, Bombardier,

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

, CSR Corp and CNR Corp. However,

rejected the bid of both Chinese firms (CSR and CNR) for the two giant manufacturing projects in Bihar. WDG-4G locomotive at Meerut City Junction

In January 2014,

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

approval was received for setting up the Diesel Locomotive Factory (DLF) in Marhowra at an approximate cost of respectively. On 9 November 2015, the Ministry of Railways awarded the contracts for

Madhepura Madhepura is a municipality in Madhepura district in the Indian state of Bihar. It stands at the centre of Kosi ravine, It was called ''Madhyapura-'' a place centrally situated which was subsequently transformed as Madhipura into present Madhep ...

and Marhowra projects to

and General Electric Transportation respectively in a collective amount of US$6 billion. This multi-crore rupees deal was seen as the country's first

foreign direct investment A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from a foreign portfolio investment by a notion of direct co ...

(FDI) in the railway sector. The design for the locomotive was finalised by the Indian branch of GE Global Research in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. Under the contract, GE is stated to supply 700 of 4,500 HP locomotives and 300 of 6,000 HP locomotives. Both the locomotives are based on GE's Evolution-series locomotives, which are claimed to be one of the most fuel efficient and least polluting diesel locomotives in the world.

Production

The first 50 locomotives of the class were built at GE Transportation's manufacturing plant in

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and were shipped to India while the remaining 950 (including 300 WDG-6G class) are being locally manufactured with 70% local parts under the

initiative. The locomotives will be built and assembled at the

which is a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between

and

with the former owning a 26% stake and the latter owning the remaining 74%. The first locomotive rolled out of GE's Erie plant on 3 August 2017 with an orange and yellow livery that required of paint. The first shipment arrived in India on 11 October 2017 and the import order was completed on 23 November 2018 with the 50th locomotive's arrival at

Mundra Port Mundra Port is the largest private port of India located on the north shores of the Gulf of Kutch near Mundra, Kutch district, Gujarat. Formerly operated by Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Limited (MPSEZ) owned by Adani Group, it was late ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. An average of 100 locomotives will be produced per year for 10 years starting from 2019. GE would be responsible for the fleet's maintenance during the first thirteen years of the contract, after which Indian Railways would be handed over the responsibility.

Specifications

Traction

The prime-mover is a GE Evolution Series 12 cylinder

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

internal combustion An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

which produces 4,500 horsepower and transmits 4,261 HP to the wheels through six

traction motor A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric vehicle, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit. Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles (ele ...

s, one on each

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

(

Co'Co' Co-Co is the wheel arrangement for diesel or electric locomotives with two six-wheeled bogies with all axles powered, with a separate traction motor per axle. The equivalent UIC classification (Europe) for this arrangement is Co′Co′, or C- ...

configuration). Each axle's traction motor can be individually controlled to maintain maximum

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

and

tractive effort As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total traction that is parallel to the direction of motion. In railway engineering, the term tr ...

, up to 554 kN, even during conditions that induce wheel-slip. The tier-1 GEVO (evolution series) engine is claimed to have 50% lower emission than previous locomotives in IR and is the first in its fleet to comply with UIC-1

emission standards Emission standards are the legal requirements governing air pollutants released into the atmosphere. Emission standards set quantitative limits on the permissible amount of specific air pollutants that may be released from specific sources over ...

. The motors are driven by

IGBT An insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is a three-terminal power semiconductor device primarily used as an electronic switch, which, as it was developed, came to combine high efficiency and fast switching. It consists of four alternating lay ...

(Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) technology which allows for higher power gain and efficiency than the previous generation

Gate turn-off thyristor A gate turn-off thyristor (GTO) is a special type of thyristor, which is a high-power (.e.g. 1200V AC) semiconductor device. It was invented by General Electric. GTOs, as opposed to normal thyristors, are fully controllable switches which can be ...

s. The locomotive has a reduced fuel consumption than its predecessors due to an electronic fuel-injection system installed on it. The locomotive has a top speed of and weighs . The

fuel tank A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propel ...

has a capacity of out of which is usable during normal operations. The locomotive is capable of

multiple unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...

operations which allows more load to be transported by attaching two or more locomotives controlled by the same crew. ROZA WDG4G 49100 at Katihar

Safety

A crash hardened event recorder/data logger has been provided on every such locomotive along with a vigilance control unit. The brakes are microprocessor controlled

railway air brake A railway air brake is a railway brake power braking system with compressed air as the operating medium. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on April 13, 1869. The W ...

s along with dynamic brakes which can produce a combined maximum braking effort of 270 kN. A self load feature allows the locomotive to gauge its performance while the cell modem would enable real time remote monitoring of the locomotive's performance and health. The cab is strengthened to comply with cab frontal collision as per

RDSO The Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) is an ISO 9001 research and development organisation under the Ministry of Railways of government of India, which functions as a technical adviser and consultant to the Railway Board, the Zonal ...

specifications (EN12663) and equipped with fire-fighting equipment for crew safety. Additionally, the cabs, control units and their compartments are made using fire retardant material.

Crew amenities

Unlike older locomotives of Indian Railways, the WDG-4G has various facilities for crew comfort and utilities, including

temperature control Temperature control is a process in which change of temperature of a space (and objects collectively there within), or of a substance, is measured or otherwise detected, and the passage of heat energy into or out of the space or substance is ad ...

and heated

windshield The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...

s. Each locomotive comes fitted with a

water closet A flush toilet (also known as a flushing toilet, water closet (WC) – see also toilet names) is a toilet that disposes of human waste (principally urine and feces) by using the force of water to ''flush'' it through a drainpipe to another loca ...

for crew comfort, a feature which has been largely missing on most Indian locomotives. A

hot plate A hot plate is a portable self-contained tabletop small appliance cooktop that features one or more electric heating elements or gas burners. A hot plate can be used as a stand-alone appliance, but is often used as a substitute for one of the b ...

is also provided for heating meals while on the run. Additional features such as soundproofing of the driver cabs and charging sockets for cellphones have reportedly made the locomotive popular among loco-pilots.

Operation

The locomotive class operates out of two sheds (maintenance depots), each controlled by

Wabtec Wabtec Corporation (derived from Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999. It is headquartered ...

(which acquired GE Transportation in 2018). One of the shed is in Ghandhidham,

under

Western Railway zone The Western Railway (abbreviated WR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways and is among the busiest railway networks in India, headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra. The major railway routes of Indian Railways which come under Western Railw ...

while the other one is in Roza,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

under

Northern Railway Zone The Northern Railway (NR) is one of the 19 Railway zones of India and the northernmost zone of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Baroda House in New Delhi. History Officially notified as a new railway zone on 14 April 1952, ...

where a total of 366 locomotives have entered service. GE has said that, during operations, real time tracking will be undertaken for the locomotives to 'increase productivity and minimize time duration'. As part of its contract on the maintenance and upkeep of the locomotives, Wabtec has to keep 95% of the fleet in operational condition, failure of which would result in a penalty from Indian Railways. The locomotives are to take over the freight hauling duties from older locomotives in Indian Railways' fleet, mainly ALCO and EMD locos. The former was the last major import shipment for IR which was in 1962 when IR acquired the

WDM-2 The Indian locomotive class WDM-2 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 1962 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic (M) engine, ...

series of locomotives. The axle load of the locomotive has been kept at a minimal 22 tonnes per axle to allow operations all over the Indian Railway network which has a lower axle load limit.

References

{{Broad gauge locomotives of India, state=collapsed G-4G Co-Co locomotives Evolution Series WDG-4G 5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 2017