Alstom, through its joint venture with Indian Railways, Madhepura Electric Locomotive Private Limited (MELPL), has secured a five-year maintenance contract covering 300 WAG-12B electric freight locomotives.
The contract applies to the remaining 300 locomotives yet to be delivered under the original 800-locomotive supply contract awarded to Alstom in 2015. It includes scheduled and unscheduled maintenance activities, material supply, locomotive washing, logistics support and remote diagnostics, with defined availability and reliability targets.
As part of the scope, MELPL will deploy Prompt Response Teams at selected locations, equipped with specialised tools and critical spare parts to address failures and reduce downtime. The contract also includes maintenance of key depot infrastructure and continued training programmes for Indian Railways personnel.
Indian Railways already maintains the first 500 WAG-12B locomotives at depots in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Nagpur (Maharashtra). The Sabarmati depot will support the next tranche of locomotives delivered under the programme.
The WAG-12B is a 12,000 hp, double-section electric freight locomotive designed to haul trains of around 6,000 tonnes. The fleet forms part of Indian Railways’ transition toward higher-capacity electric freight traction under the long-term supply and maintenance framework with Alstom.
