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 ...

, the MEMUs are

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

(EMU) trains that serve short and medium-distance routes in India, as compared to normal EMU trains that connect urban and suburban areas. The acronym stands for Mainline Electric Multiple Unit.

History

Indian Railways (IR) started MEMU service on Asansol – Adra section on 15 July 1995 and on Kharagpur – Tata section on 22 July 1995. Delhi-Panipat MEMU service started on 27 September 1995. Raipur–Durg–Bhatapara–Raipur–Bilaspur MEMU service started on 17 October 1995. Arakkonam-Jolarpettai MEMU service on 22 May 2000. Bankura-Midnapore MEMU started on 30 June 2000. The first 20 coach MEMU ran between Surat to Virar in 2017. Since 2019, 3-phase MEMUs have started replacing existing MEMU rakes. IR is progressively replacing all locomotive-hauled slow and fast passenger and intercity trains with EMUs. The upgraded trains are re-branded as MEMUs.

Operation

The system uses multiple

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

units operating on

25 kV AC Railway electrification systems using alternating current (AC) at are used worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. It is usually supplied at the standard utility frequency (typically 50 or 60Hz), which simplifies traction substations. The d ...

drawn from

overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

s. The trailer coaches have two toilets for passengers and one for the crew. The train can run up to between Eastern Ghat and Western Ghat. The rakes have a maximum permitted speed of on broad-gauge tracks. The motorcoaches use DC traction motors. In 2017, ICF flagged off an LHB hybrid AC-AC MEMU rake based on the 1,600 HP Medha DEMU architecture. These rakes use asynchronous traction motors and have a maximum designed speed of 110 km/h. These use a

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

body. Two of them operate on

South Central Railways The South Central Railway (abbreviated SCR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. The jurisdiction of the zone is spread over the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. It has three divisions under its administrati ...

. ICF launched new MEMUs capable to operate at 110–130 km/hr. The construction cost is 26 crore per unit and can carry 2,618 passengers. This train has a three phase traction motor and operates on 25 kV current which saves 35% energy. It offers

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

-based passenger information systems and announcement in coaches. It has double leaf sliding doors, gangways,

CCTV cameras A closed-circuit television camera can produce images or recordings for surveillance or other private purposes. Cameras can be either video cameras, or digital stills cameras. Walter Bruch was the inventor of the CCTV camera. The main purpose ...

and aluminium luggage racks. The driver's cabin has AC and the coach has an emergency communication facility. It is designed to operate between cities away in

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 ...

. The train may start in February 2019.New Train 18-like MEMU for North India! Indian Railways rolls out 130 kmph train for short-distance travel
/ref>

Manufacturing

MEMUs are manufactured at

Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala is a coach manufacturing unit of the Indian Railways in the state of Punjab. It is located on the Jalandhar-Firozpur railway line. History Established in 1985, RCF is a coach manufacturing unit of Indian Railw ...

, and

Integral Coach Factory Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is a manufacturer of ICF coach, rail coaches located in Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1955 and is owned and operated by the Indian Railways. It is located in Perambur, in the suburbs of ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Rakes are maintained in the

Titlagarh Titilagarh is a town and Municipality in Balangir district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Odisha. Geography and Climate Titilagarh is located at . It has an average elevation of 215 metres (705 feet). Demogr ...

coach maintenance shops.

Gallery

File:Bhongir-Falaknuma_MEMU_at_Malkajgiri_station_02.jpg, An old MEMU train File:Zn-fl train.jpg, A new aerodynamic-designed MEMU train

Comparison to locomotive-hauled trains

References

External links

MEMU/DEMU Electric/Diesel Multiple Unit Shuttle Trains - Railway Enquiry

Indian Railways Fan Club Photo Gallery: MEMU
{{Indian Railways