India’s most powerful 12,000-horsepower electric locomotives will reportedly feature waterless urinals for loco pilots, while existing locomotives from the Madhepura factory in Bihar will be retrofitted with the facility.
Discussions between Madhepura Electric Locomotive Private Limited (MELPL) and Indian Railways on incorporating waterless urinals are at an advanced stage, a senior company official told The Indian Express.
The issue has gained added significance with Indian Railways increasingly inducting women as loco pilots.
Vivek Garg, Managing Director of MELPL, said the company had already developed a prototype by retrofitting a waterless urinal, which has been in operation for around four months, the IE report added.
“The unavailability of a urinal or toilet in locomotives is one of the biggest problems that a loco pilot faces. This becomes even more important that now Indian Railways also have lady loco pilots. The discussion with Indian Railways is at an advanced stage and they want to integrate waterless urinals in all the locomotives that we are building. The prototype is performing well,” Garg said, as quoted by the publication.
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The new locomotives manufactured at the Madhepura factory will have an inbuilt urinal, while the ones already rolled out will be retrofitted, Garg said.
{{/usCountry}}The new locomotives manufactured at the Madhepura factory will have an inbuilt urinal, while the ones already rolled out will be retrofitted, Garg said.
{{/usCountry}}MELPL is a joint venture between Indian Railways and French major Alstom, with Alstom holding a 74% majority stake. The company manufactures 12,000 HP electric locomotives at its Bihar facility for carrying heavy loads on dedicated freight corridors.
The company supplied its 650th locomotive to the Railways on August 15. The first 12,000 HP locomotive manufactured at the Madhepura facility was put into operation from Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction on May 18, 2020.
The locomotive has a design speed of 120 kmph and can carry 6,000 tonnes of freight.
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Why the urinals took time
Asked if technical problems or delays in decision-making had held up the introduction of urinals, Garg said neither was the case.
He said fitting a waterless urinal into a locomotive comes with its own challenges, particularly related to safety. Unlike on a plane, a loco pilot cannot simply leave the controls while the locomotive is moving. The urinal should therefore be used only when the locomotive is stationary, Garg explained according to Indian Express.
He said waterless urinals also required a rethink of water supply and design, adding that the technology was evolving over time.
The MELPL was awarded a contract in 2015 to manufacture and supply 800 locomotives by March 2028. The initial cost of the project was ₹28,000 crore, which was later revised to over ₹33,000 crore.
With the project, India became the sixth country in the world to manufacture 12,000 HP electric locomotives.
The initiative is also part of Indian Railways’ push to provide waterless urinals in all electric locomotives in a phased manner, wherever feasible.
According to the Railways, as of February 2026, more than 2,800 locomotives had been provided with urinals.