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Stone India Ltd, the Kolkata-based manufacturer and supplier of railway equipment for more than 75 years, has developed a pantograph which, the company claims, is unique of its kind. The equipment, used for collecting electricity from the overhead wire, has been successfully tested by Indian Railways which thus is set to emerge as the world’s first railway geared to run a train under a 7.5-metre high contact wire.

The new generation pantograph developed by the company allows an increase in what is called catenary height from the standard six to 7.5 metres, the highest in the world, according to company sources. Such pantographs are suitable for locomotives to be used for running double-stack container trains being planned for operation on the proposed dedicated freight corridors. The same could also be used for running double-decker passenger trains in high density suburban routes, it is felt. The trial was undertaken some time ago on certain sections of the East Coast Railway with satisfactory results. What has been particularly significant to note is that several other foreign firms failed to meet the stipulation while Stone India succeeded with the help of its own in-house R&D.

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