Mumbai 1500 V DC traction | AC-DC Traction system of Mumbai | Bombay Electric Trains | CR | WR

The first train with electric traction in India ran in 1925 between Boribundar to Kurla on the Central Railway. The erstwhile Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) initiated operations using electric traction with the EF-1/WCG-1 and the EA1/WCP-1 locomotives under 1500 V DC system. By 1930s electric traction had reached upto Pune and the Deccan Queen commenced services in 1930 with a WCP-1 locomotive. On the western railway electrification of the line from Colaba to Borivali was completed by 1928 and the section between Borivali and Virar was complete by 1936.
The central railway because of the steep gradients opted to use electric traction from as early as the 1930s. Traction was provided by DC electric locomotives dominated by the WCM series class. The western railways on the other hand continued mainline operations with steam and subsequently diesel traction until the advent of the WCAM-1 class AC-DC locomotives in 1979.
The WCAM class AC-DC locomotives provided traction power until 2014 when the entire Bombay territory eventually shifted to AC traction. The WCAM-2 and WCAM 3 class locomotives still run on both CR and WR but with the advent of modern 3-phase AC locomotives like the WAP-7 there days are numbered.
While India had adapted 25 KV AC traction by the mid-1950s as standard, the Bombay Territory took over six decades to bid good bye to the obsolete DC systems. This was to avoid disruptions of the suburban EMU traffic that are Bombay’s lifeline.