On December 22, theⅠclass electrified railway main line from Yichang of Hubei Province to Wanzhou of Chongqi City in China (hereafter called as Yi-wan Railway), which is considered as the most difficult built railway was put into operation. HXD3C0081 high power AC electrical locomotive developed by Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co., Ltd is designated as the tractive locomotive.
Yi-Wan Railway is the most difficult railway in terms of the highest building cost per kilometer (six times of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway), and it has the longest construction period in China. The total length of the Railway is 377 kilometers and there are many bridges and tunnels in it which accounts for 74% of the total length. According to the plan of the Wuhan Railways Bureau, 62 HXD3C locomotives would be designated as the tractive locomotives except for 5 SS9 locomotives for the first batch of passenger trains when the YI-Wan Railway has put to operation.
HXD3C electric locomotives are the self-made high power locomotives manufactured by Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company on the basis of a new technical platform. The main difference between HXD3C locomotive and other types of locomotives is that this locomotive is suitable for both passenger and freight traction performance and become the much-needed traction power for present rail transportation. So far the Company has successively provided with 200 HXD3C locomotives into many railway transport bureaus which relieved burden of domestic railway transportation and also provide a new tractive power for the coming of transport within the Spring Festival.