Mumbai: India's first electric loco shed marks 92 years

Indias first electric loco shed completed 92 years onSaturdaywith Central Railway marking the day with events at the shed28th November 2020is celebrated as the 92nd foundation day of Electric Loco Shed ELS Kalyan The premier Shed of Indian Railways has the proud distinction of being the First Electric Loco Shed under the then Great Indian Peninsula Railway GIPR It was established on 28111928 Central Railway chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar saidKaushik Sanjiv Dharwadkar an electrical engineer and railway enthusiast from Pune said A question might arise as to what is unique concerning this shed such that its day of establishment is being discussed So I have actually compiled five facts concerning Electric Loco Shed KalyanA few pointsThe first Electric Locoshed in entire British India Second in entire Asia with only the Japanese Railways constructing their Electric Locosheds beforeNovember 1928 Indias second Electric Locoshed started functioning in FebruaryMarch of the year 1960 at Asansol West Bengal ie after a time span of 32 yearsWas home to Electric Locomotives which were capable of attaining 135 Kilometres per Hour speed these were the fastest Locomotives in entire British India It is due to these locomotives the intercity travel duration in between Mumbai and Pune was reduced from 6 hours to 2 hours and 50 minutes from 5thNovember 1929onwardsIndependent Indias firstever indigenously manufactured Electric Locomotive Lokmanya by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works was destined and homed at Kalyan Electric Locomotive Shed back in the year 1963Engineering officers of this Locoshed extended the working life of 19 Electric Locomotives which served in Central Railways from 1928 to 1998 that is a total of 70 years the operational life span of Electric Locomotives is 35 years after which they are condemned Ideally these 19 Locomotives should have been condemned in the year 1963 but they served Central Railways till the year 1998 An Engineering feat in entire Indian RailwaysKalyan Electric Locoshed from 28111928 till present has been home to a total of 21 varied Locomotive classes namely Passenger Freight Mixed Locomotives capable of hauling Passenger as well as Freight Trains and lastly Shunting No other Electric Locoshed in India could proudly state of having 21 different locomotive operating and maintenance manuals in its technical reference shelvesDharwadkar said he had referred History of Electric Traction book by RK Vir published by Institution of Railway Electrical EngineersSutar added during its journey of the last 92 years the Shed has maintained nearly 16 different types of Locomotives Initially entrusted with DC Locomotives of type EA1 amp EF1 the Shed received WCM2 WCM3 amp WCM4 class of locomotives which were modified to work in 1500V DC catenary prevalent in Mumbai Division Later CLW manufactured WCM5 class of locomotives the first one coined LOKMANYA which were also added to the fleet of Electric Loco Shed ELS KalyanSince Mumbai Division is surrounded by Ghat sections on both sides Kalyan based locomotives perform the essential service of banking providing additional power for hauling mailgoods trains UP or Down the Ghat In 1971 the newly built WCG2 locomotives were provided which had dynamic braking featuresWith the growing passenger segment of Indian Railways the population of coaching locos was given a boost with BHEL manufactured WCAM2P amp WCAM3 locomotives Further WCAG1 locomotives were also introduced for expanding goods servicesAfter 2007 the process of catenary conversion of Mumbai Division to AC was done in North Eastern Ghat and so WAG7 amp WAG5 locomotives were introduced Considering the capability of the team of ELS Kalyan in ably handling various types of locomotives simultaneously the latest technology pure AC locomotive WAG9 with IGBT Converter was added to its fleetAlso ReadMumbai Central Railways Oldest Train Guard Felicitated On 101st BirthdayAs the need for coaching locos increased from the year 2019 WAP7 type locomotives are added to the fleet at present ELS Kalyan having a holding of 37 WAP7 locomotives and more locos are adding to the fleetELS Kalyan is also the only Electric Loco Shed of Indian Railways that has Accident Relief Train ART amp High Speed Self Propelled Accident Relief Train HSSPART as a part of its fleet The renowned and capable breakdown team of Kalyan ART has been often acknowledged for its efficiency during unusual happenings such as accidents derailments etc occurring over Mumbai DivisionLast year ELS Kalyan played a major role in technological upgradation of Indian Railways in operating pushpull technology in Rajdhani Express and HOG operated trainsAs the entire world is struggling with the COVID19 pandemic to maintain the nation on track ELS Kalyan played a major role to maintain the shed activities even in the lockdown period and many such cases are highlighted upto Railway Board and even Railway Minister appreciated the dedication of the staff of ELSDuring the lockdown period a team of dedicated staff works round the clock to monitor the loco movement attention to defects reported from the line etc Further gradually the activities of shed restored to its normal working with better manpower amp time managementTo take care of our staff against the Covid19 pandemic the following initiatives were taken by the shedReusable face masks were prepared by our lady staff and distributed among the staffSanitizer made inhouse for shed use and it is even supplied to other departments such as hospital RPF SampT Operation dept etcFace shield was provided to all staffTemperature of all staff reporting for duty is being monitoredFoot switch operated hand sanitizer dispensing system amp hand wash facility developed in houseBy counselling of staff for proper use of face mask ensuring safe distance use of sanitizer from time to time the cases of covid19 were totally under control in shedAt present shed is holding 211 locomotives Presently 7 different types of locomotives are maintained in the shed The holding of different types of locomotives is 53 nos of WCAM3 20 nos of WCAM2 12 nos of WCAG1 56 nos of WAG7 29 nos WAG9 02 nos of WCM6 and 39 nos of WAP7 During last year the shed has commissioned 22 Nos of WAP7 locos these WAP7 locos are fitted with Hotel load converter technology which is provided to supply electricity to coaches and eliminate the requirement of diesel and power carAlso ReadKalyan Railway Cop Drags Man Out Of Platform Gap Saves His LifeKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesMidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news