The Indian locomotive class WAG-11 is a class of twin-section 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 2018 by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), Varanasi for Indian Railways. This freight engine has been designed for a speed of 105 km/h and weighs 252 tons. It is equipped with a three-phase induction motor, four power converters and regenerative as well as pneumatic braking system. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Alternating Current (A), Goods traffic (G), and 11th in series (11). They entered trials service in 2019. A total of 4 WAG-11 pairs have been built by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), Varanasi.
As of January 2023, 4 locomotives are built and are undergoing "testing", with further examples being converted from WDG-4 to WAG-11.
The history of WAG-11 begins in the early 2017 with the stated aim of the Indian Railways to minimize the dependence on diesel locomotives in Indian Railways after recommendation of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The committee recommended that Expansion of electrified routes across the country will also help in reducing energy cost. Therefore, a large number of WDG-4 diesel locomotives would become surplus after full electrification. Thus Indian Railways decided to convert existing WDG-4 locomotives which needed midlife overhaul into the WAG-11 electric locomotive class.
The same old GT46MAC (WDG-4) traction motors are being used for WAG-11. The locomotives had GTO propulsion, a few parts can not be leveraged for the rebuilt to IGBT technology. However, since the power supply now comes from the WAG9 transformer / control, ABB has been updating its WAG9 control software for the EMD 3 phase traction motors for best results. As a result, the diesel power pack of the locomotive will be decommissioned and used as spare parts for interim use since there are still 150+ more GTO WDG-4 in use.
The first WAG-11 unit was allocated TKD for trials and performance monitoring. They are fitted with high rise pantographs and have regenerative braking. After initial testing another unit was built and these 2 locomotives were transferred to Bondamuda (BNDM) for examining working conditions hauling heavy load goods trains. The third prototype pair came out of DLW shop but this pair is different from the previous two pairs because both of the locos have twin cabs and twin pantographs and are separately numbered: 29003 and 29004. It looks like they can be separately operated like any regular WAG-9. Also the height and construct of these two locos are extremely similar to WAG-9s.
There are quite a few differences between the two earlier prototypes of WAG-11 and 29003/29004. They are in the following lines:
Railway Board sent a circular to identify 16 WDG-4 locos that would be converted to WAG-11 during the financial year 2020âÂÂ2021.