Belgian Railways Class 18 (Siemens)
HLE 18, HLE 19 EuroSprinter ES60U3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() 1857 at Brugge-Sint-Pieters railway station. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Technical information :[3][4] except where noted |
- For the original Class 18 built in 1973/4 by Alsthom see SNCB Class 18 (Alsthom)
The SNCB/NMBS HLE 18 (Siemens class ES60U3) are a series of four axle Bo′Bo′ multivoltage electric Siemens EuroSprinter locomotives ordered in two batches of sixty in 2006 and 2008.
The locomotives were supplied for use by SNCB/NMBS (Belgian national railways) on passenger services.
96 of the class form the HLE 18 class, 24 units fitted with an automatic central coupler form the SNCB HLE 19 class.[5]
History[]
An order for 60 units, value €211 million, was placed in December 2006 for delivery between January 2009 and June 2010.[7][8][9] In December 2008, an option to order 60 more locomotives was exercised for an amount of € 222M, for delivery between June 2010 and April 2012.[10]
The locomotives were ordered to replace Belgian Railways Class 13, Class 21 and Class 27 locomotives on passenger intercity services.[11] The Class 13 were mostly displaced on freight trains while the Class 21 and 27 took over slower passenger trains; this allowed the withdrawal of outdated Belgian Railways Class 23 and 26 locomotives as well as the younger but troublesome class 20.
Locomotive number 1860 was officially presented at InnoTrans in 2008.[3] The first unit, number 1801 was transferred to the Velim railway test circuit for testing in December 2008.[12]
On March 3, 2009, the first unit (roadnumber 1802) was officially delivered to SNCB/NMBS for test and homologation purpose.[13] Homologation issues delayed commercial introduction (originally planned for the summer timeschedule - May 2011),[14] as a result Siemens was obliged to pay the maximum amount of penalties (€ 21.12 million).[15]
In July 2011 the first revenue earning Intercity services ran, under temporary approval.[5] The type received homologation certification for use in Belgium in late 2011.[16]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b SNCB HLE 18-19 www.railcolor.net, "order details"
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Locomotieven type 18 goed onthaald, SNCB (2011), Type 18-19: technische fiche
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "SNCB dual-system loco to be unveiled". Railway Gazette. 23 September 2008.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Locomotives - Reference List (PDF), Siemens, Three-System Universal Locomotive HLE 18, p.6
- ^ Jump up to: a b c SNBC HLE 18-19 (www.railcolor.net), milesstones
- ^ Jump up to: a b SNCB HLE 18-19 www.railcolor.net, "fleet list"
- ^ "La SNCB commande 60 locomotives électriques chez Siemens" (in French). SNCB Presse. 16 January 2007. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011.
- ^ "Belgian National Railway Company places €211M order with Siemens for 60 locomotives". Siemens Transportation Systems. 18 January 2007.
- ^ "SNCB orders 60 locomotives with Siemens". Infrasite News. 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011.
- ^ "NMBS koopt nieuwe treinen en locomotieven" (in Dutch). De Standaard. 5 December 2008.
- ^ SNBC HLE 18-19 (www.railcolor.net), purpose
- ^ ""Taurus" pro belgické dráhy bude testován ve Velimi" (in Czech). ŽelPage. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ "Nieuwe locomotieven NMBS klaar voor testfase" (in Dutch). De Morgen. 4 March 2009.
- ^ "45 nouvelles locomotives de la SNCB inutilisables" (in French). La Dernière Heure. 12 March 2010.
- ^ Amende salée pour Siemens (in French), La Libre, 2 April 2011
- ^ "Locomotives passed homologation", www.europeanrailwayreview.com, 7 November 2011
Sources[]
- "SNCB HLE 18-19", www.railcolor.net
- "Locomotieven type 18 goed onthaald" (PDF), Time to B (in Dutch), SNCB: 18, 14 December 2011
External links[]
- De Neef, David (1 April 2007), "Locomotives de la série 18", www.belrail.be (in French)
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