Chittaranjan Locomotive Works

“Rolling Stock’', is obviously the most essential requirement of a railway system. Though the railway system was introduced in India over hundred years ago, no systematic and large scale efforts were made to establish indigenous industry for meeting in full these basic requirements of Railways. The Indian Railways have, therefore, all along been dependent on imports for meeting their requirements of coaches, wagons locomotives and their components. A small beginning was no doubt made in the direction of locomotive manufacture in the East Indian Railway Workshop at Jamalpurm 1885 and in the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Workshop at Ajmer in 1896. The manufacture of locomotives in these workshops was, however, of a sporadic nature and it only formed a side activity of these two workshops, which were primarily repair workshops. [2]

It was not unnatural, therefore, that Indian public opinion should have continuously demanded that arrangements be made for the manufacture of locomotives required for India’s needs in the country. The agitation became particularly strong after the First World War, when import of new locomotives became difficult and existing locomotives had either completely broken down through wear and tear involved during the war or were in a dismal state of disrepair. In the Legislative Assembly during the twenties of the present century, there was a furore of agitation by Indian leaders of all shades of opinion. No effective steps were, however, taken by the Railway authorities to enlarge the scope of locomotive manufacture at Jamalpur and Ajmer. Various practical difficulties were pointed out and reasons plausible and otherwise were advanced in favour of continuing the existing practice of importing locomotives from Britain. The conclusion could not be easily escaped that in this matter, as in many others, those in charge of the Railways at the time, were more interested in the welfare and prosperity of British industries, and preferred to extend the patronage of Indian Railways to British locomotive factories, rather than taking steps towards developing this industry in India. [3]

Finally in July, 1939 a committee was appointed consisting of a Mechanical Engineer and Finance Officer, Mr. J. Humpherey and Mr. K. C. Srinivasan respectively to examine in detail the scheme of starting the manufacture of locomotives in some of the existing workshops in India and to report on the initial cost and financial implications of such a venture. The Committee, however, recommended that the manufacture of locomotives, despite the war and even because of it, should be taken up at once. steps were taken to implement the recommendations oif the Committee. During the war, the shortage of locomotives became more and more apparent. This only served to emphasise the urgency and the imperative necessity for India to become independent and self-sufficient in respect of locomotives and other equipment necessary for railway operation. [4]

It was not till 1945 that any serious consideration was even to the recommendations of the Srinivasan Committee. A provisional site at Chandmari in the then imdivided Bengal was selected. Not much progress could be made at this site, bec&use of political changes leading to the partition of India. In 1947, the present site, where the Chittaranjan is located, was finally chosen”.

Founded in 1950, the Indian Railway production unit is named after the Indian freedom-fighter Chittaranjan Das. The manufacturing unit was established at a place close to the Chittaranjan railway station.

The 18.34 km² (4,530 acres) township, which included the factory, 191 km (119 mi) of roadways, 43 schools, 9131 staff quarters, 8 clinics (including a 190-bed hospital) and 7 markets, was built at a cost of ₹140 million (US$2.0 million) and had a population of over 80,000.

The factory commenced the production of steam locomotives on 26 January, 1950 (the date when India formally declared itself a Republic), in collaboration with the North British Locomotive Company. On 1 November, 1950, Indian President Dr. Rajendra Prasad formally dedicated the first steam rail-engine produced by the company (a WG class locomotive bearing the registration number 8401) to the freedom fighter Deshbandhu Chittranjan Das. The name of the nearby railway station Mihijam was also changed to Chittaranjan. Many of the specialized machinery required for steam locomotive manufacture was obtained from the Vulcan Foundry in England, previously a major supplier of locomotives to India, which at this time was moving from building steam locomotives to diesel.[8]

In the post-1968s, the factory began to manufacture diesel-hydraulic locomotives. The production of steam and diesel locomotives were discontinued in 1972 and 1993 respectively. The company has since been manufacturing only electric rail-engines. It is now the only government electric loco producing factory in India.

The factory obtains its iron & steel from different steel plants of SAIL, RINL & MDN, and sometimes from private steel plants like TATA, Jamshespur or JINDAL STEEL etc. and hydel power from PGCIL and DVC (Maithan dam). The township under CLW is bordered by high boundaries and 3 main gates, and guarded by Railway Protection Force, Railway Protection Special Force and the West Bengal police.

The planners of the nation with their prudence planned to set up a loco building factory in the eastern part of the country. In the late 1930s, a committee consisting of M/s Humphries and Shrinivasan was constituted to consider the possibility of establishing a locomotive manufacture unit and its economic facilities. The initial project at Chandmari, a place east to Kalyani in the state of West Bengal, could not mature due to partition, which inevitably necessitated a change of site. This present site at Chittaranjan was chosen after a fresh survey and for this the approval of Railway board was obtained in 1947.[9] Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) started producing locomotives from the year 1950, the same year the township was formally established. The approximate value of the imported parts required for the manufacture of locomotives at the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works is Rs. 1,25,000 per locomotive in the year 1955. [10]

Starting with steam engines, CLW now produces state-of-the-art Electrical engines capable of running at 160 km/h and upgradable up to 200 km/h.

• Diesel Locomotive Factory, Marhowra
• Electric Locomotive Factory, Madhepura
• Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi
• Integral Coach Factory, Chennai
• Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli
• Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala
• Rail Wheel Plant, Bela
• Rail Wheel Factory, Yelehanka
• Titagarh Wagons, Titagarh

List of locomotive builders by countries

• Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) Company website