The Indian locomotive class WDS-6 is a dieselâÂÂelectric locomotive used by the Indian Railways mainly for shunting and also for performing departmental duties. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Shunting (S) engine, 6th generation (6). As of April 2022, 375 units of this class are currently in use all over India.
This class was designed in 1975 to address the need for a powerful shunting locomotive with the ability to haul 20- to 24-coach rakes. The previous WDS-4 class was found to be grossly underpowered for this kind of operation. A WDS-6 locomotive basically consists of a YDM-4 powerpack (a 6-cylinder, 4-stroke, inline, turbo-supercharged ALCo engine) mounted on a WDM-2 body frame. Beginning in 1975, these were initially manufactured solely by BLW, Varanasi, but later, the Parel Workshop started building them using CKD (completely-knocked-down) kits provided by DLW. WDS-6 units can be easily recognized by their low short hoods (with two cab windows above these) and flat-ended cabs on the long-hood end. Many of them were sold and transferred to private industrial concerns and public sector undertakings (PSUs) in huge numbers, but still display their IR road numbers.
Total Locomotives active as of March 2025 : 270
Generally, these locomotives are seen with the typical yellow livery with green/red stripes.
The technical specifications of WDS-6 are as follows: