Indian Railways goes all in on electric freight trains

May 13, 2026

2 min read

Siemens Mobility delivered the first of 1,200 electric freight locomotives for commercial operations as part of its €3 billion project with Indian Railways, following an order placed in January 2023.

It marks the single largest locomotive order in Siemens’ history and the single largest order in the history of Siemens India.

India has one of the world’s largest rail transport and logistics networks, used daily by 24 million passengers on more than 22,000 trains. The government plans to increase the share of railways for freight transport from 27% to 40-45%.

The D9 locomotives provided by Siemens are Indian Railways’ first rolling stock, successfully tested to the European standard EN 14363 and are designed for freight operations across the network at speeds up to 120km/h.

The project is delivered as part of a lifecycle partnership that also covers design, manufacturing, commissioning and 35 years of full-service maintenance. Maintenance will be provided through a network of four depot locations – Visakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur and Pune. The Visakhapatnam depot was opened by Siemens Mobility at the same time the electric locomotives were delivered.

Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility said: “The handover of the first D9 locomotives and the opening of the new maintenance depot in Visakhapatnam are major milestones in this landmark project and our long-term partnership with Indian Railways.

“With our leading technology, we are supporting the country’s goal of shifting more freight to rail, boosting logistics efficiency, and significantly reducing CO₂ emissions for decades to come. Together, we are bringing one of the world’s most powerful and energy-efficient freight locomotives into service – manufactured and maintained in India.”

Logistics UK’s Senior Policy Manager Alexandra Herdman said: “This landmark investment by Indian Railways highlights the scale of ambition needed to shift freight onto more sustainable modes and zero emission traction.

“Electrified rail freight offers a powerful route to boosting capacity, improving efficiency and cutting emissions.

“While the UK already benefits from a well-established rail freight sector, schemes of this size underline the opportunity to go further – particularly through increased electrification, longer-term investment certainty and expanded network capability.

“Learning from global projects like this can help the UK accelerate modal shift and ensure rail freight not only reaches its full potential in delivering a lower-carbon, more resilient logistics system but also meets the 2050 rail freight growth target.”