Vectron_(locomotive)

Vectron (locomotive)

Vectron (locomotive)

Series of electric or diesel-electric locomotives produced by Siemens


The Vectron is a locomotive series made by Siemens Mobility, introduced at the 2010 InnoTrans trade fair in four prototype versions: diesel, multi-system, and both AC and DC electric power. The diesel version has been replaced in 2018 by a dual mode locomotive which is powered by electricity on electrified sections of the track and can be switched to diesel mode on non-electrified sections.[2] The Vectron series is reconfigurable and modular, with a Bo'Bo' wheel arrangement, and is intended as the successor to the EuroSprinter family of locomotives. A more affordable, basic version called Smartron was introduced in 2018.[3][4][5]

Quick Facts Type and origin, Designer ...

Background and design

Around the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century Siemens successfully produced freight and passenger/universal versions of its EuroSprinter locomotive platform; initially made as single voltage machines for European state railways (Austria, Germany), later as multivoltage locomotives for cross border working; this design resulted in numerous orders from both state and private railways, as well as rail leasing companies, primarily in the European Union area.

Siemens identified the potential for further growth in the market, particularly in trans-Alpine freight (Northern Europe to Italy), railfreight from northern European ports into Europe and from Baltic ports into Russia, as well as the potential for growth in newer members of the European Union (Poland, Hungary etc.).[6]

The design incorporates elements from previous Siemens locomotives—the train control package and traction control system are from the ES64F4 and ES64U4 Eurosprinter models respectively, whilst traction system is derived from the ER20 EuroRunner. The cab and replaceable front end (buffer-bar) derives from the latest Eurosprinter model[7] i.e. locomotives such as the Portuguese CP Class 4700 or Belgian SNCB Class 18.

Design

The Vectron is designed to be easily reconfigurable to a variety of country or work specific configurations; reconfiguration to different safety systems is simplified with pre-designed mounting points for track equipment, modular safety equipment cabinets in the locomotive body[8] and a driver's desk designed for a wide variety of information equipment.[6]

The locomotives are also available in a medium power (5.2 MW or 7,000 hp) version for regional passenger and medium freight work as well as a high power (6.4 MW or 8,600 hp) version. DC only versions are only available in medium power.[1] The standard design speed is 160 km/h (99 mph), which can be upgraded to 200 km/h (120 mph) with the addition of semi-active yaw dampers incorporating a bogie–bogie steering mechanism.[6] Since 2022, the locomotive can also be ordered with a top speed of 230 km/h.[9]

The main body of the vehicle is self-supporting, consisting of an underframe of three longitudinal sill plates (centre and sides), side walls, transverse support members for the bogie pivots and for the transformer, and end sill plates. The roof is in three sections and is removable, and the two driver's cabins also have a replaceable front end. The buffer beam section is also a separate part, which allows replacement if it is damaged in a collision.[6]

The main compartment of the locomotive contains the electrical equipment except the main transformer and batteries which are located below the frame. All electrical components are placed in predefined locations on either side of a central aisle connecting the two cabins with each mounting position being reserved for a single type of equipment.[6]

The bogies transmit tractive force through a central pivot. The traction motors are flexibly supported by the bogie frame, and are connected to the wheelset mounted reduction gears by a multiple disc coupling. A full hollow shaft (folded cardan) drive system is also optional. Mechanical braking is via wheel-mounted disc brakes. Electrical regenerative braking is also used.[6]

The locomotives can work in double, multiple and push-pull formation with other Vectron, Eurosprinter and Eurorunner locomotives as well as some other locomotives fitted with the same multiple working equipment.[6] The design also allows single cab version for use in permanent double coupled locomotive working or for use with passenger trains with a blanking module replacing one of the cab ends.[10]

Diesel engined versions

Siemens Vectron Dual Mode

A fully diesel powered version was launched in 2010. The design uses a 2.4 MW (3,200 hp), MTU 16V 4000 84R engine.[11]

An electric locomotive design with 180 kW diesel engine for shunting operations was presented at the 2012 InnoTrans trade fair.[10]

In 2018, a dual mode locomotive was presented as a combination of electric and diesel locomotive. The new locomotive weighs 90 metric tons. The locomotive is designed to operate on a 15-kV AC electrical system and is equipped with the PZB train protection system. Regardless of its operating mode, the locomotive develops a rating of 2,000 kW at the wheel rim. The Vectron's diesel tank holds 2,500 liters of fuel. The locomotive's top speed is 160 km/h.[12]

Operations

Introduction and testing

The first locomotives of the type were AC and multisystem locomotives presented at the Wegberg-Wildenrath Test and Validation Centre in June 2010.[13] AC, DC, multivoltage electric system and a diesel engined version were officially launched at the 2010 InnoTrans trade fair.[11]

The Vectron design received certification to operate in Romania in 2012,[14] the DC Vectron version also was homologated for use in Poland in 2012,[15] and the design received European community certification for inter-operability on high-speed rail systems.[16] (EC Decisions 2002/735/EC and 2008/232/CE)

Certification for use of the AC version in Germany was obtained in December 2012, as part of a joint certification procedure between Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands.[17]

Over the night of 25–26 January 2013, a modified Vectron locomotive was tested in the Channel Tunnel.[18]

Certification for use in Austria was obtained in early 2013.[19] Full certification for use in Sweden was obtained in April 2013, replacing a temporary certificate.[20]

The AC version received certification for Hungary in late 2013.[21] In January 2014 the Vectron locomotive class received certification under the EU 'Technical specification for interoperability for Locomotives and Passenger rolling stock' (Decision 2011/291/EU),[22] and in July 2014 the AC version was certified for use in Norway.[23]

The locomotives were released for operation in Turkey in November 2014.[24] Preliminary certifications for some multisystem locomotives in the Czech Republic[25] and Slovakia[26] followed. A preliminary certification for some DC version locomotives in the Czech Republic was reported shortly after.[27] The permanent authorizations for the MS and AC versions were granted in March 2015 for the Czech Republic[28] and in May 2015 for Slovakia.[29] In July 2015, the DC version was homologated for Italy.[30] Since August 2015, the MS version is homologated for Poland.[31] The homologation for Croatia and Slovenia was published in September 2015.[32] Since February 2017, the MS version is homologated for Italy.[33]

A Siemens press release on the occasion of 500 sold locomotives[34] revealed that homologations also exist for Bulgaria, Serbia and Switzerland. The MS version was homologated for the Netherlands in September 2017.[35]

The diesel engined version Vectron DE is homologated for use in Germany since September 2014,[36] for use in Turkey since November 2014[24] and for use in Austria since August 2015.

Homologation overview

Homologations which cannot be clearly assigned to the locomotive's electric system were assumed on the basis of neighboring countries and current systems and are given in brackets in the following table.

More information Country, MS ...
  1. Two "Last mile" APU's only.

Orders

More information Company, Type ...

See also


References

  1. "Siemens Mobility presents new Vectron Dual Mode locomotive" (Press release). Siemens Mobility. 28 August 2018.
  2. "Smartron". Siemens Mobility. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  3. "Smartron freight locomotive launched". Railway Gazette. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  4. "Siemens Vectron locomotive on test". Railway Gazette International. 29 June 2010. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  5. "Siemens unveils diesel surprise", railwaygazette.com, 23 September 2010
  6. "Siemens Vectron revealed". railcolor.net. 29 June 2010.
  7. Schramke, Ellen; Rommel, Anne, eds. (22 June 2012), "Vectron: first unlimited homologation" (PDF), Rail Systems News, Siemens
  8. "Lokomotywa Vectron otrzymała polski certyfikat", logistyka.wnp.pl (in Polish), 17 September 2012
  9. "Vectron receives homologation for Germany", transportweekly.com, 7 January 2013
  10. "Siemens Vectron tested in the Channel Tunnel", Railway Gazette International, 28 January 2013
  11. "Vectron receives homologation for Austria", europeanrailwayreview.com, 11 March 2013
  12. Siemens (7 May 2013), "Vectron receives homologation for Sweden", europeanrailwayreview.com
  13. Siemens (5 December 2013), "Vectron receives authorization for Hungary", europeanrailwayreview.com
  14. "Vectron AC certified in Norway (Ref. No. SOICRL201414-01)", siemens.com (press release), 2 July 2014
  15. Full approval for both Vectron AC and MS, www.railcolor.net, 26 March 2015
  16. Vectron DC officially homologated for Italy, www.railcolor.net, 13 July 2015
  17. Vectron MS fully approved for Poland, www.railcolor.net, 7 August 2015
  18. Siemens Vectron homologated for Slovenia and Croatia, www.railcolor.net, 29 September 2015
  19. Vectron MS certified for the Netherlands, www.siemens.com, 4 October 2017
  20. "DB Schenker orders 23 locomotives from Siemens", transportweekly.com, 5 December 2012
  21. Siemens (20 December 2012), "Siemens hands over two Vectron locomotives to DB Schenker Rail Polska", europeanrailwayreview.com
  22. Rynek Kolejowy (9 February 2015), "PKP Intercity wynajęło Vectrony DB Schenker", rynek-kolejowy.pl
  23. Siemens (4 June 2013), "MRCE orders 15 Vectron locomotives", europeanrailwayreview.com
  24. Siemens (12 August 2013), "Four Vectron locomotives for boxXpress", europeanrailwayreview.com
  25. Siemens (17 October 2013), "Paribus Capital orders Vectron AC", europeanrailwayreview.com
  26. Barrow, Keith (20 December 2013), "VR Group orders 80 Vectron locomotives", railjournal.com
  27. "VR orders Siemens Vectron locomotives", railwaygazette.com, 20 December 2013
  28. "Broad gauge Vectron arrives in Finland", railwaygazette.com, 9 April 2015
  29. D'Albero, Andrea (11 February 2014), "Siemens Vectron a CFI", ferrovie.info (in Italian)
  30. Chassany, Anne-Sylvaine; Odell, Mark (31 March 2013), "KKR backs European train leasing start-up", Financial Times
  31. ELL to order up to 50 Siemens Vectron locomotives (PDF) (press release), Siemens / ELL, 31 March 2014
  32. "mgw Serive Gmbh. & Co. KG", mgwservice.de (in German), archived from the original on 2 April 2015, retrieved 28 April 2014, Aktuelles: 11.04.2014: Vertragsunterzeichnung für einen Siemens Vectron. Auslieferung August 2014
  33. "Change in Ownership at Railpool", railpool.eu, 9 May 2014, archived from the original on 12 May 2014, retrieved 12 May 2014, In parallel to the acquisition of Railpool, an order for five Vectron locomotives has been placed with Siemens for delivery in the coming months.
  34. Barrow, Keith (17 June 2014), "MRCE orders more Vectron locomotives", railjournal.com
  35. "WLC orders one Vectron locomotive", railcolor.net, 26 November 2014
  36. "BLS Cargo orders Vectron locomotives", railwaygazette.com, 27 March 2015
  37. "ITL Eisenbahn setzt Siemens Vectron-Lokomotiven ein", captrain.de, 28 August 2015, archived from the original on 2 September 2015
  38. "Captrain Vectron", railcolor.net)
  39. "PKP Cargo orders 15 Siemens locomotives", railwaygazette.com, 23 September 2015
  40. "Railpool gets more Vectron locomotives", railcolor.net, 6 October 2015
  41. "DB Schenker Rail orders Vectrons for Italy", railwaygazette.com, 30 November 2015
  42. "EP Cargo purchases one Vectron locomotive", railcolor.net, 1 December 2015
  43. Barrow, Keith (29 January 2016), Lokomotion orders Siemens Vectron locomotives
  44. ČD Cargo orders five Vectron locomotives (press release), Siemens, 13 April 2016
  45. "MRCE goes back for more Vectrons", railwaygazette.com, 17 June 2016
  46. Hector Rail orders 15 locomotives from Siemens (press release), Siemens, 15 March 2017
  47. "mgw orders second Vectron locomotive", railcolor.net, 22 July 2016
  48. Barrow, Keith (22 September 2016), Siemens to supply last-mile Vectrons to Railcare
  49. "Baureihe 247.9", LOK-report.de (in German), 8 May 2020
  50. 18 Vectron locomotives ordered (press release), Siemens, 30 January 2017
  51. ÖBB orders up to 200 locomotives from Siemens (press release), Siemens, 30 January 2017
  52. "Unipetrol orders Vectron locomotives", railwaygazette.com, 12 April 2017
  53. "Hupac orders eight multisystem locomotives from Siemens" (Press release). siemens.com. 1 June 2017.
  54. "MRCE orders 30 Vectron locomotives" (Press release). siemens.com. 14 September 2017.
  55. "New leasing business to supply locos to ZSSK", Railwaygazette.com, 1 November 2017
  56. "Stern & Hafferl buys Siemens Vectron diesel locomotive no. 247 905", Railcolornews.com, 4 December 2017, archived from the original on 4 December 2017
  57. "EGP/Enon to receive a second Vectron locomotive", Railcolornews.com, 8 December 2017
  58. "Siemens sells 193 822 to Adria Transport", Railcolornews.com, 24 January 2018
  59. "Industrial Division buys one Vectron locomotive", Railcolornews.com, 27 February 2018, archived from the original on 19 January 2021, retrieved 27 February 2018
  60. Siemens Mobility press release: Siemens Mobility sells 1,000th Vectron locomotive, 4 May 2020
  61. "MRCE orders 25 locomotives from Siemens" (Press release). siemens.com. 8 May 2018.
  62. "Srbija Kargo to purchase Vectron locos", Railwaygazette.com, 17 May 2018
  63. "EP Cargo buys a second Vectron locomotive", Railcolornews.com, 1 June 2018
  64. Fortieth customer for Siemens locomotive (press release), Siemens, 9 July 2018
  65. "ČD Cargo orders interoperable locomotives", Railwaygazette.com, 9 August 2018
  66. "3 more Vectron locomotives for EP Cargo", Railcolornews.com, 15 November 2018
  67. "DB Cargo signs 100 locomotive framework deal", Railwaygazette.com, 18 January 2019
  68. "Siemens Mobility dostarczy Vectrony do Industrial Division", Rynek kolejowy (Polish language), 3 June 2019
  69. "Siemens Mobility on Twitter", Siemens Mobility on Twitter, 27 June 2019
  70. BLS Cargo orders 25 locomotives from Siemens Mobility (press release), Siemens Mobility GmbH, 21 October 2019
  71. "Gysev Cargo's 193 837 makes an appearance", railcolor.net, 1 November 2019
  72. First order for Vectron Dual Mode (press release), Siemens Mobility GmbH, 18 November 2019
  73. "Tre Vectron Siemens per GTS R", ferrovie.info, 22 January 2020
  74. "Smartron", elektrolokarchiv.de
  75. "RheinCargo: Erwerb neuer Hybrid-Lokomotiven", Lok-report.de (in German), 12 January 2023
  76. Siemens Mobility receives approval for Vectron Dual Mode (press release), Siemens Mobility GmbH, 5 November 2020
  77. "Újabb ügyfél szavazott bizalmat a Vectron mozdonynak", mobility.siemens.com (in Hungarian), 19 January 2021
  78. "ITL Eisenbahngesellschaft mbH erweitert Fuhrpark", captrain.de (in German), 18 May 2021
  79. "It is white and hard working..", railcolornews.com, 11 August 2021
  80. "Správa Železnic Ordered A Vectron MS", railvolution.net, 26 August 2021
  81. "Nové lokomotivy Vectron pro ČD Cargo", cdcargo.cz (in Czech), 8 December 2021
  82. jst. "Berichte International". Eisenbahn-Revue International Deutsche Ausgabe (in German) (4/2023): 186.
  83. "ČD Cargo orders new locomotives", cdcargo.cz, 1 August 2022
  84. "MRCE bestellt 14 Vectron-Lokomotiven", LOK-report.de (in German), 19 August 2022
  85. "Supplies - 480136-2022", ted.europa.eu (in German), 2 September 2022
  86. "Güterverkehr neu aufgegleist", commerzreal.com (in German), 2022
  87. "Tag der Schiene: Oberfranken fährt weiter Diesel", br.de (in German), 16 September 2022
  88. "Vectron(s) For Fenniarail", railvolution.net, 29 September 2022
  89. "More Vectron locomotives for Alpha Trains", alphatrains.eu, 11 November 2022
  90. Rynek Kolejowy (14 December 2022), "Kolejne lokomotywy Siemensa w Cargounit. Jeden z Vectronów dla BWE", rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish)
  91. "Die EGP auf Instagram", Instagram.com (in German), 22 December 2022
  92. Rynek Kolejowy (9 March 2023), "Cargounit odbiera Vectrony i zamawia kolejne", rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish)
  93. "Vectron-Sextett für DPB Rail Infra Service", logistik-express.com (in German), 3 April 2024
  94. BLS Cargo buys 10 new Vectron locomotives featuring XLoad (press release), blscargo.ch, 26 September 2023

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