Posted on September 18, 2026
Bhubaneswar, September 18, 2026: East Coast Railway (ECoR) has successfully experimented with a newly-designed Triplet Train from Paradip to Talcher in Odisha. During this experiment, the railway has combined three empty freight rakes into one long train. This was a significant attempt of the organization towards enhancing the management of freight trains in the state.
In terms of technical features, the Triplet Train had 180 wagons and six locomotives. It took about 7 hours and 45 minutes for the train to cover the route of approximately 198 kilometres from Paradip to Talcher. According to railway authorities, there have been no problems during the transportation process on the parts of the track which have steep gradients and a lot of railway traffic.
Another technical feature of the process was the use of the distributed power system. All locomotives were not located at the front of the long train but in different places throughout it. One locomotive was at the front; two pairs of locomotives were in the middle and another locomotive was at the back of the train.
These locomotives had a Distributed Power Wireless Control System and SATEL radio modems. This technology helped the locomotives interact with each other in terms of traction and braking. There were five locomotives that worked in the master-slave format, whereas one locomotive assisted from the back end of the train.
This pilot run also offered vital technical information to the railway authorities. In the middle of the journey, there was an interruption in communication with the locomotive working from the back of the train about twenty times. Nevertheless, the wireless control system re-established communication quite quickly in all those instances. The railway authorities stated that this helped prevent any kind of disruption, and thus no unnecessary braking took place.
This run is also of great significance from the point of view of freight and yards management because by using three empty freight rakes in one run, the railway can save time.
According to the officials of East Coast Railway, now after the success of the pilot project, the system may be employed in loading Triplet Trains in future days. Such practices would not only save time but also ease the burden from the railway lines.
The Paradip-Talcher line is an important freight line of Odisha which connects the coastal region with the industrial region of the state. Hence, now this becomes a chance for the Railways to understand whether such freight trains would be able to run efficiently under coordinated locomotives.
This trial becomes yet another milestone in the efforts of the Indian Railways to increase the freight transport efficiency.