Türkiye takes first homegrown electric locomotive into use

Turkish rolling stock manufacturer Türasaş has delivered the first five units of the E5000 locomotive to national rail operator TCDD Taşımacılık. It is Türkiye’s first domestically produced electric locomotive, suitable for both freight and passenger services.
In total, Türasaş will deliver 95 E5000 locomotives to TCDD. The rail operator will receive the remaining 90 units in the next three years.

The E5000 locomotive has a maximum speed of 140 kilometres per hour, with a power output of 5 MW. Its traction motors produce an output of 1,280 MW. It is interoperable with the European rail network – the locomotive has been TSI certified.

“With its TSI certificate, it will also proudly represent the power of our technology in the global arena as an innovative export product for the international market”, Turkish Minister of Transport Abdulkadir Uraloğlu commented. “We are opening the doors to a new era by delivering the first 5 of the 95 locomotives to be produced for TCDD Taşımacılık today.”

Turkish domestic produce

The Turkish minister also made sure to highlight the locomotive’s domestic origin. “Our E5000 national electric locomotive, produced in our facilities in Eskişehir, has been made for the first time for a main line locomotive with 100% domestic and national design and production of vehicle driving and control systems such as traction converter, traction control unit, central control unit, traction transformer, which are components that only developed countries in the world have.”

With a power output of 5 MW and a top speed of 140 kilometres per hour, the E5000 is not quite a heavy-hitter, but does not provide bad performance either. See how it compares to some of its peers and the Chinese ultra-heavy freight locomotive HXD1 in the table below.