New Delhi: On May 26, while delivering a public speech at Gujarat’s Dahod in the presence of Narendra Modi, union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was gung-ho about the Prime Minister flagging off India’s ‘first 9000 horsepower locomotive engine manufactured in Gujarat’ which would give train drivers the facility of using regenerative brakes. The way this featured in his speech made it appear that India would be getting regenerative braking systems in electric engines for the first time. Vaishnaw, an engineer by training and also a former IAS officer, spoke with Modi looking on; “Can I tell you one more interesting feature of this locomotive engine? When the train moves, it draws its electricity from the wires running above it. But when the brakes are used, this engine becomes a generator and sends back electricity to the wires above it. This is the magic of new technology.”But it has emerged that these locomotives are not new. They have been manufactured in India after the transfer of the relevant know-how from Switzerland in the late 1990s. In fact, Indian Railways had succeeded in producing this indigenously around 2009. Vaishnaw conveyed that those Dahod-made locomotives with regenerative brakes that his ministry would be exporting were a novelty. But facts seem to indicate otherwise:A 14-year-old reportAs per a report from September 26, 2011, the regenerative brakes have been a part of the Indian Railways since the 1990s. The 2011 news report had said, “Application of brakes in trains invariably results in loss of energy. However, conservation of energy by utilising the technology of regenerative braking in electric locomotives has helped the North Central Railway to save about 15 million units of electricity costing about Rs six crore in the current financial year.” It had underlined that in order to conserve electrical energy, “three phase locomotives were inducted into Railways almost 15 years ago.” “Initially, these locomotives were imported from Switzerland on ToT basis (Transfer of Technology). As per this agreement, when complete equipment is imported, the foreign company also undertakes to transfer the entire knowhow to the indigenous company for enabling the latter to manufacture the imported equipment in the country”.The 14-year-old news report establishes that “After 5 years ( in 2009) CLW (Chittaranjan Locomotives Works) started the production of three phase locomotive indigenously gradually reducing the import content to 5 per cent only.” It goes onto say that since drivers needed training to use regenerative brakes, the North Central Railway, had in 2011 already completed training all its drivers. Around 150 of its 250 trains in 2011 had shifted to regenerative brakes. Parliamentary question in 2023In 2023, when Vaishnaw was the railways minister, in a reply to a Parliament question posed by MPs Dhairyansheel Sambhajirao Mane and Shrirang Appa Barne, the ministry had categorically stated that the North Eastern Railway (NER) also uses regenerative braking systems. In addition, Vaishnaw’s ministry had then told the Lok Sabha, “All electric locomotives manufactured by Railways, in its locomotive production units, are having regenerative braking features. All zonal railways, including North Eastern Railway, are utilising these electric locomotives.” In other words, the western railway that covers Gujarat, also uses regenerative brakes in electric engines. Even the Mumbai local trains use regenerative brakes. In 2019, well into Modi government’s first tenure, prior to Vaishnaw’s arrival at the Rail Bhawan, the ministry had also successfully completed a trial of retrofitting WAG-7 class locomotive engines with regenerative braking to save electricity loss. How to assess more claims?On May 26, a visibly excited railway minister can also be seen saying in the now viral video, “And, this engine is not just an engine, it is a moving computer! It produces no noise; no vibration. The pilot’s cabin has air conditioning and there is a toilet too.” The minister’s emphasis on air-conditioning and particularly the presence of a toilet for the train driver/s in the engine itself is not without context. Last year, news reports had underlined the protest launched by Southern Railways loco pilots for the lack of toilet facility in as many as 700 locomotives. In 2016, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had asked the Modi government to provide air conditioning and toilets in the engine rooms for the pilots. However, the compliance is not completed yet. As per a New Indian Express report in 2023, “By the end of last year (2022), less than 200 locomotives, including Vande Bharat trains, had provided the loos.” With Modi looking on, Vaishnaw attributed not only all credit for the “new locomotive” produced at Dahod to him but also showered more praise on his “vision”. “This is the magic of new technology. This is our pathfinder prime minister’s great vision for the country. Friends, the engine that is being made in Dahod is high quality and less expensive. Well, the speciality of Gujarat is, spend less and get better quality. That is why we will be able to export these engines across the world. And, what have we given the name of this engine? D-9! D-9 means Dahod-9000! Dahod-9000….”Vaishnaw also said, “In 2022, PM Modi decided that modern electric engines would be manufactured in Dahod and the work began in 2023. And today, a modern factory is ready.”