THE Indian government has awarded Hitachi ABB Power Grids a $US 23.2m contract to supply transformers to two state-owned rail organisations. 

Hitachi will supply state-owned locomotive manufacturer Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) with 25kV traction transformers for the manufacture of Indian Railways’ (IR) WAG 9 locomotives, and will supply rail electrification agency the Central Organisation for Rail Electrification (Core) with 132kV trackside transformers. 

Traction transformers are installed on the train to route power from the catenary to power essential functions such as traction, lighting, ventilation, braking, signalling and communication. Trackside transformers reduce the voltage from the power grid to a suitable level before feeding it into the rail catenary. 

The contract is intended to support India’s plans to fully electrify the 67,368km IR network by December 2023 and make IR a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030. As of July 2020, IR has electrified around 40,000km of line since work began in 2014, including 63% of broad-gauge lines.