Alstom has announced the arrival of its first two car body shells at the Haldia port next week , which will be used for the electric locomotive factory at Madhepura, Bihar.

These are the first two of the five (car) body shells to arrive from Belfort, France. These shells are 17 m long, 3.1 m wide and 3.4 m high, weighing 19 tonnes each, Alstom said in a release.

Sporting a royal dark blue livery — colour of the Indian Railways — these car body shells will have travelled for about three months and covered a distance of over 7,000 km by road and sea to reach the facility site at Madhepura.

The third car body shell is due to leave from France by September-end and is expected to reach India by November-end, the company said.

Manufactured at Belfort, Alstom’s Centre of Excellence for the design and production of locomotives, the car body shells will take the form of Alstom PRIMA T8 range of e-locos once assembled.

Gearing for assembly

Jean-Francois Beaudoin, Senior Vice-President for the Asia-Pacific region at Alstom, said after thetimely arrival of the car body shells in India, the next stage was the assembly.

“As one of the most sustainable methods of transportation, consuming up to 50 per cent less fuel than conventional shunting locomotives, e-locos are a game changer in accelerating the sustainable mobility efforts in the country,” he added.

Named ‘WAG12’, these 12,000 horsepower locos are based on a modular platform and will be capable of hauling up to 9,000 tonnes of weight and running at 120 km/hour.

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