The Ural Locomotives limited liability company (Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Sverdlovsk region), which is a joint venture by the German company Siemens and the Russian group Sinara, has presented a new two-section, alternating-current electric freight locomotive that is capable of driving heavy-tonnage trains (up to 9,000 tons), the Interfax news agency has reported.
"The new locomotive was developed by the [joint venture’s] department of design development and research and has the working name ‘Project 11201.’ It is equipped with induction traction motors manufactured by Siemens. The design of the electric locomotive also incorporates components manufactured by the SAUT, Avtomatika, and MTZ Transmash companies,” the report stated. The locomotive is intended for use on railways with a width a track gauge of 1520 mm.
The development of the technical specifications for the new locomotive began in 2011, and the presentation of the technical project took place in October 2012, with representatives of railways in Russia and CIS countries participating in its discussion. A prototype of the electric locomotive was produced in July 2013. The locomotive covered 5,000 kilometers during preliminary tests, pulling trains weighing a total of 7,900-8,200 tons. Acceptance and certification tests will continue until April 2014.
"Simultaneously with the certification tests, we plan to make presentations of the locomotive to railways executives in CIS countries in order to gather all the wishes of potential customers before the start of serial production," Ural Locomotives’ General Director Aleksandr Saltayev is quoted as saying.
The Ural Locomotives joint venture was created in 2010 on the basis of the Ural Railway Engineering Plant (an asset of Sinara). The joint venture engages in serial production of the 2ES6 Sinara and 2ES10 Granit direct-current electric freight locomotives, as well as the Desiro Rus (Lastochka) high-speed passenger trains. Sinara owns 51% of the joint venture and Siemens 49%.
