Eurosprinter Locomotive On The Right Track In Poland
The ES64U4 Eurosprinter locomotive recently received its temporary homologation for operation in Poland. The four-system locomotive now has to prove itself in daily service for a period of six months before receiving its full homologation from the Polish Ministry of Railways.
The Polish state railway, Polskie Koleje Panstwow-Intercity (PKP Intercity), ordered ten ES64U4 Eurosprinters in summer 2008. Siemens Mobility handed over the first locomotive with the number 183 601 just one year after receiving the initial order. The customer named its new locomotive “Husarz”. The temporary homologation came just in time for this year´s TRAKO rolling stock fair, which took place from October 14 to 16, 2009 in Gdansk. In collaboration with PKP Intercity, Siemens presented the second prototype “Husarz” locomotive with the number 183 602.
Siemens received the award for the best product in the “Rail Vehicles” category in the Ernest Malinowski competition. The prize was awarded for the ES64U4. It was not just the 357 kilometers per hour world record set by the ES64U4 for series-production locomotives in 2006 which impressed the organizers of the TRAKO fair in Gdansk. They also commended the locomotive´s technical features, which allow non-stop cross-border traffic. On October 14, 2009, the Eurosprinter locomotive made its first official journey on the route from Warsaw to Gdansk with the “Neptun” intercity train. During the following days of the fair, PKP Intercity again used the Siemens locomotive to successfully serve the route between Warsaw and Gdansk.
The locomotives are equipped for service in Poland and are later set to serve cross-border routes from Poland to Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria. Used together with PKP Intercity passenger coaches, the locomotives will enable fast IC/EC services on the routes Warsaw-Berlin, Warsaw-Prague and Warsaw-Vienna. The locomotive is part of Siemens Mobility´s proven Eurosprinter family, which has seen 1,500 locomotives ordered worldwide. Serial delivery of the new locomotives is due to start in spring 2010. The locomotives are built at the Siemens plant in Munich-Allach as well as at the Technical Services plant of the Austrian Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) in Linz.
For more information: www.siemens.com
