#4947

Indian locomotive class WDM-3A

🇮🇳 India ·built by Patiala Locomotive Works· from 1994· class of diesel–electric locomotive

🛤️ diesel locomotive diesel ✓ in service

10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences

1. HYB - JP Special (34468255825): Belur Ashok from Secunderabad, India· CC BY 2.0
2. KJM WDM3A: Raju2789· CC0
3. WDM 3A locomotive of Indian Railways: Ravi Dwivedi· CC BY-SA 4.0
4. (Hyderabad - Mumbai) Express with a WDM 3A Locomotive at Hyderabad: Adityamadhav83· CC BY-SA 4.0
5. 12785 Bangalore Express Empty rakes at Bolarum with WDM 3A Twins: Adityamadhav83· CC BY-SA 4.0
6. 53660 (Sasaram-Patna) Passenger with MGS based WDM-3A loco: Smeet Chowdhury· CC BY 2.0
7. A Gooty WDM3A Loco in charge of Visakhapatnam bound Machilipatnam Passenger at Duvvada: Adityamadhav83· CC BY-SA 4.0
8. A Vatva based WDM-3A loco spotted at Secunderabad Junction 02: Adityamadhav83· CC BY-SA 4.0
9. A WDM 3A loco with Kaacheguda Yesvanthpur Express: Adityamadhav83· CC BY-SA 4.0
10. A WDM 3A locomotive MUed with another WDM 3A resting at Secunderabad: Adityamadhav83· CC BY-SA 4.0

what is it?

The Indian locomotive class WDM-3A is a class of diesel–electric locomotive that was developed in 1993 by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), Varanasi for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic (M) engine, with 3300 horsepower (3A). The WDM-3A is a later classification of earlier WDM-2C. They entered service in 1994.

who runs it

Indian Railways Bangladesh Railway

base stats

speed 120 km/htop speed
power 2.5 MWpower output
weight 113 tin working order
built 3made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

First built 32 years ago, in 1994.
2.5 MW is about 29 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
Weighs about as much as 19 African elephants (~6 t each).

diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).

spec sheet

built: 1994–2015
status: in service
number built: 3
kind: Diesel–electric
traction: diesel
origin: 🇮🇳 India
builders: Patiala Locomotive Works, Banaras Locomotive Works
designer: BLW, RDSO
operators: Indian Railways, Bangladesh Railway
top speed: 120 km/h
power: 2.5 MW
gauge: 1,676 mm Indian broad gauge
wheel arrangement: Co′Co′
weight: 113 t
nicknames: Cheetah, Prabal, Velociti, Awadh, Firex, Sher Punjab, Veer

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q17056225, Wikipedia: Indian locomotive class WDM-3A (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.