Pilot locomotive carries cargo of 9,000 tonnes through the Ural Mountains

A 2ES10 Granite pilot freight locomotive delivered an ‘unprecedented cargo’ of 9,000 tonnes from Yekaterinburg to Balezino through Sortirovochny and Pervouralsk in Russia.

This unparalleled trip was attended by Mr Vladimir Yakunin, CEO of Russian Railways, Mr Alexander Misharin, Sverdlov Region Governor, Mr Dmitry Pumpyansky, Sinara Group Board Chairman, and Mr Peter Löscher, President and CEO of Siemens AG.

Commenting on the locomotive test results, Vladimir Yakunin highlighted its ample potential to contribute to the overall development of freight and railway transportation.

“This is a landmark event. For the first time in the history of Russian railways an unprecedented cargo train has crossed the mountain chain dividing Europe and Asia.

“This has become possible due to the joint efforts of Russian and German engineers who designed a state-of-the-art locomotive, which highlights a significant contribution to strengthening cooperation between Russian and German railways,” said Vladimir Yakunin.

The locomotive was produced by Urals Locomotives, a joint venture of Sinara Group and the German engineering powerhouse Siemens, in line with the TOR prepared by Russian Railways.

Granite is an example of a highly efficient way of integrating local and international technology. The new locomotive encompasses 60% of advanced local engineering solutions and Siemens R&D on traction and vehicle control.

The new electric locomotive which uses an asynchronous traction motor has unique performance characteristics. With a maximum speed of 120 km/h it has a capacity of 8800 kW.

Launching the production of three-section 2ES10 locomotives will make it possible to develop and implement a technology to get 9,000 tonne-heavy trains over the Ural Mountains without breaking up the cargo and changing the locomotive, helping increase railway capacity.