Joint venture of Siemens Mobility in Russia unveils new freight locomotive
Russia-based rolling stock manufacturer Ural Locomotives, a joint venture of Siemens Mobility and Sinara Group, has demonstrated a new electric locomotive. The three-section vehicle was developed to boost rail freight traffic in Russia. It can haul the 1-kilometre-long set of wagons.
In early March, Siemens Mobility suspended its business activities in Russia due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the following sanctions imposed by the European Union. However, Ural Locomotives, a joint venture of the German train builder and its Russian partner Sinara Group, is still functioning. Furthermore, it even unveiled a brand new type of freight locomotive for the Russian market. On 11 March, the Russian company demonstrated the 3ES8 three-section electric locomotive, which was nicknamed ‘Malachite’, at its headquarter in Velikaya Pyshma in the Sverdlovsk Region. According to Ural Locomotives, all the components for the new vehicle was developed by Russian companies.
Being equipped with the 430-kilowatt engine and asynchronous traction drive, the locomotive can haul the freight trains with a weight of 7,100 tonnes and a length of 1 kilometre in mountainous terrain and difficult climate conditions. It has a carrying capacity, which is 42 per cent higher than its predecessors of the previous generation. The 3ES8 locomotive is based on the 2ES6 locomotive family being developed by Ural Locomotives for more than a decade. In the coming months, the vehicle will be certified for operations on the Russian railway network. It is expected that it will be put into operation in October by Transneft, a state-owned operator of pipelines in Russia.
The Ural Locomotive joint venture was incorporated in July 2010. It was established by Siemens Mobility and Sinara Group, the Russian major rolling stock manufacturer. For almost a dozen years, the enterprise developed several types of freight locomotives including 2ES6, 2ES10 that are widely used on the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Baikal-Amur Mainline. Moreover, the joint venture adapted the Siemens Desiro electric trainsets for the Russian market. This type of rolling stock was nicknamed ‘Lastochka’ (‘swallow’ in Russian).