First complete D9 locomotive unveiled

On 26 May 2025, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri. Narendra Modi, flagged off the first of the new D9 (EF9K) freight locomotives at Indian Railways’ factory in Dahod, Gujarat. 

Following the award to Siemens Mobility for the design, engineering, manufacturing and maintenance of 1,200 electric locomotives with a 9000 HP traction power (6,600 kW), Siemens’ factories in Nashik, Aurangabad and Mumbai have been manufacturing key components of the project, with final assembly at the Indian Railways’ factory in Dahod. Approximately 90 % of the technologies in the locomotives are made in India.

The state-of-the-art Dahod facility, constructed in record time of under two years, incorporates cutting-edge features including Virtual Reality-based safety training, a locomotive simulator and loco-shunters for efficient carriage movement. Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility, said: "The D9 is a symbol of sustainable progress and will increase the share of freight transported by rail in one of the largest freight markets in the world. The locomotives have the potential to replace up to 800,000 trucks and save over 800 million tons of CO₂ emissions over its lifecycle. Together with Indian Rail, we are setting new standards in rail efficiency and environmental sustainability.” 

The 25 kV 50 Hz locomotives with a maximum speed of 120 km/h can haul trains weighing up to 5,800 tons and are fitted with the "advanced digital tracking systems, the Kavach safety system, and green propulsion technology." Siemens will also perform the maintenance for the entire lifespan of 35 years for these locomotives. The locomotives are equipped with Siemens’ Railigent X platform for predictive maintenance, ensuring highest availability and performance. For their maintenance will be destined depots at Pune, Raipur, Kharagpur a Vhishakhapatnam.

Kavach ('Armour') is an ATP developed by Indian Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) in collaboration with Medha Servo Drives, Kernex Microsystems and HBL Power Systems. in July 2020 it was adopted by Ministry of Railways as the national ATP, initially it was known as Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS).

Kavach incorporates several key characteristics of the ETCS as well as the Indian Anti-Collision Device (ACD). However Kavach is not intended to function as a replacement to traditional lineside signals, and is also not intended to have interoperability with other country's systems, unlike ETCS. These aspects make it cheaper than ETCS.