Electric Loco Shed, Howrah

2022-04-06T03:51:33Z

2405:205:C905:1EC0:0:0:443:40B0: robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit)

{{Short description|Loco shed in West Bengal, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox railway depot
| name = Electric Loco Shed, Howrah
| image = Howrah WAP7.jpg
| image_upright = 1.5
| image_width =
| image_alt = The shed is located near Howrah railway station.
| caption = HWH based WAP-7 hauling Shahid Express
| location = [[Howrah]], [[West Bengal]]
| coordinates = {{coord|22.604813|88.335240|display=inline,title}}
| owner = [[Indian Railways]]
| operator = [[Eastern Railway zone]]
| depotcode = HWH
| type = [[Engine shed]]
| opened = {{Start date and age|2001|||df=y}}
| closed = 
| original =
| pregrouping =
| postgrouping =
| roads = 6
| rollingstock = [[WAP-4]] <br /> [[WAP-5]] <br /> [[WAP-7]]
| former_rolling_stock = [[Indian locomotive class WAP-1|WAP-1]] <br /> [[Indian locomotive class WAM-4|WAM-4]]
| routes = 
| map_type = India Kolkata
| map_size = 250
| embed =
}}

[[File:Route haul map of Howrah Electric Loco shed.png|thumb|250px|Route haul map of HWH ELS locomotives]]

'''Electric Loco Shed, Howrah''' is a [[motive power depot]] performing locomotive maintenance and repair facility for [[electric locomotive]]s of the [[Indian Railways]], located at [[Howrah]] of the [[Eastern Railway zone]] in [[West Bengal]], India. It is one of the two electric locomotive sheds of the Eastern Railway, the others being at [[Asansol Junction railway station|Asansol]] (ASN). {{As of|2020|July|1}} there are 150 locomotives in the shed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=e-Locos|url=http://elocos.railnet.gov.in/Holding/holding.html}}</ref>

== History ==
Steam locomotive sheds used to exist at Howrah until the late 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=[IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: Steam Locomotive Sheds in the 1970s|url=http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-shed2.html#bgsr|publisher=IRFCA|access-date=2016-12-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=scan0189.jpg|url=https://www.irfca.org/gallery/Steam/collingwood/scan0189.jpg.html|publisher=IRFCA|access-date=2020-05-20}}</ref> After Eastern Railway set a deadline to eliminate all steam locomotive operations by 1990, a push was given towards establishing electric locomotion as the primary motive power, and the steam locomotive sheds was decommissioned.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Report of the expert Committee on Coal Consumption on Railways, 1958|url=http://www.indianculture.gov.in/report-expert-committee-coal-consumption-railways-1958|website=INDIAN CULTURE|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref> To meet the needs of exponentially increasing rail traffic on the new continuous broad-gauge lines from Kolkata to rest of India with the completion of gauge conversion, the Howrah was selected by Indian Railways for a new electric locomotive shed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Electric loco shed location|url=http://indiarailinfo.com/station/map/erode-junction-ed/39|access-date=2016-11-23}}</ref>

New electric locomotive shed was inaugurated in the late 2001s with [[Indian locomotive class WAP-1|WAP-1]] from Ghaziabad which stayed until late 2005, when they were transferred back to Ghaziabad again. It later got a large fleet of [[Indian locomotive class WAP-4|WAP-4]] locos, but later some of these were then moved to Asansol. All [[Indian locomotive class WAP-6|WAP-6]] locos from Asansol shed converted to WAP-4 units and transferred here. New [[Indian locomotive class WAP-7|WAP-7]] locos were acquired in 2011. In October 2019, Howrah ELS got its first WAP-5 locomotive from Vadodara.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nov 2019 Locomotive Holding list|url=http://elocos.railnet.gov.in/Holding/Holding_11_19.pdf}}</ref>
[[File:Route haul map of Howrah Electric Loco shed.png|alt=|thumb|401x401px|Route haul map of Howrah Electric Loco shed]]
The shed also held a few WAM-4 units. All the WAM-4s of this shed have been retired/withdrawn from service.

== Operations ==
Being one of the three electric engine sheds in Eastern Railway, various major and minor maintenance schedules of electric locomotives are carried out here. It has the sanctioned capacity of 175 engine units. Beyond the operating capacity, this shed houses a total of 207 engine units, including 90 [[WAP-4]] and 19 [[WAP-7]]. It also housed a few WAM-4 locomotives temporarily.<ref>{{cite web |title=Indian Railway-shed wise engine.holdings|url=http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/ele_engg/downloads/Shed_type_wise_holding_011015.pdf
|page=1|access-date=2016-11-23}}</ref> Electric Loco Shed, Howrah is now housing the 2nd largest fleet of [[WAP-4]] in Indian Railways and it caters to many long-distance electric trains.<ref>{{cite news|title=fleets under sheds|url=http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-shed.html#sr|access-date=2016-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=List of Locos in Howrah|url=http://www.irfca.org/apps/locos/list?authenticity_token=ReK61Xl7XaF1VJapJ63USw3GU20HKtdaWEzVPl%2Bwz28%3D&page=6&shed_id=15|access-date=2016-11-23}}</ref>

Like all locomotive sheds, HWH does regular maintenance, overhaul and repair including painting and washing of locomotives. It not only attends to locomotives housed at HWH but to ones coming in from other sheds as well. It has four pit lines for loco repair. Locomotives of Howrah ELS along with Asansol and Royapuram ELS were the regular links for all trains running through West Bengal when widespread electrification of railway lines started in Eastern Railways. It handled prestigious trains like the [[Howrah Rajdhani Express]]. HWH locomotives used to be predominantly the regular links for trains traveling to north as well.

== Livery and markings ==
Though WAP-4 class have a standardized livery all over India, Howrah WAP-4 locomotives can easily be recognized by their [[blood red]] with incomplete yellow band.

== Locomotives ==
{| class="wikitable"
!SN
!Type of loco
!HP
!Holding
!Images
|-
|1.
|[[WAP-4]]
|5350
|48
|[[File:HWH WAP4.jpg|border|frameless]]
|-
|2.
|[[WAP-5]]
|6120
|34
|[[File:Howrah WAP5.jpg|frameless]]
|-
|3.
|[[WAP-7]]
|6350
|89
|[[File:HWH WAP7 39095.jpg|frameless]]
|-
| colspan="3" |'''Total locomotives active as of April 2022'''<ref>{{Cite web|title=e-Locos|url=http://elocos.railnet.gov.in/Holding/holding.html}}</ref>||171
|}

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/view_section.jsp?lang=0&id=0,1,304,366,549,687,709|Official Website]
* [http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-shed.html#sr|Loco Particulars]
* [https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1roX7g62tnMMg55hY1MrsHO9jZWA&hl=en_US&ll=11.4184021004248%2C78.02839185468747&z=7|Google maps of Indian Railway Loco Sheds]
* [https://vimeo.com/185662473|Video showing the Erode Electric Loco Shed]

{{Locomotives Sheds of India}}

[[Category:Electric railway depots in India|Howrah]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Kolkata]]
[[Category:2001 establishments in West Bengal]]

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Electric Loco Shed, Howrah