Central Railway reinstates electric locomotives for Deccan Queen

Central Railway reinstated electric locomotives for the prestigious Deccan Queen Express on Wednesday. Pic/Anagh Mahesh

In a bid to uphold the spirit of its electrification centenary celebrations, the Central Railway (CR) on Wednesday reinstated electric locomotives for trains on the Mumbai-Pune section, including the prestigious Deccan Queen Express. "Central Railway General Manager Dharam Veer Meena on Tuesday issued an order to reintroduce electric locomotives for the Deccan Queen," a CR spokesperson confirmed.

Accordingly, the 12124 Pune-Mumbai Deccan Queen was hauled by a WAP-4 class electric engine on Wednesday morning. Officials said the train will continue to be hauled by electric locomotives for the foreseeable future. The move comes amid a significant shortage of electric locomotives in the Mumbai-Pune corridor, which had prompted the railways to switch most trains, including the Pragati Express, Sinhagad Express, Intercity Express and Deccan Express, to diesel haulage.

Sources said the trains were earlier hauled by a special class of engines known as WCAM-3, a unique class of locomotives used by CR that could operate on both AC and DC power modes. However, these engines have now aged and are no longer performing efficiently. The issue came to light a few weeks ago when loco pilots operating trains on the Mumbai-Pune section began reporting in their logbooks that WCAM-3 engines were struggling to climb the steep Ghat section at Khandala (with a 1:37 gradient) and were causing frequent operational issues, resulting in train delays and affecting punctuality. As a result, CR decided to deploy diesel locomotives to haul all Mumbai-Pune trains, as it is a relatively short route and diesel engines were readily available and lying unused in workshops.