The Eurotunnel Class 0001

Bo-Bo B-B and Bo-Bo are the AAR wheel arrangement, Association of American Railroads (AAR) and British classifications of wheel arrangement for railway locomotives with four axles in two individual bogies. They are equivalent to the B′B′ and Bo′B ...

diesel-electric locomotives were built by Maschinenbau Kiel (manufacturers designation DE 1004) between 1991 and 1992. They are very similar to the NS Class 6400. When operating in the United Kingdom, the locomotives are assigned a TOPS classification as Class 21.

History and design

Five locomotives were built, numbered 0001–0005. They carry a yellow and grey livery and are used by Getlink for rescuing trains in the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

, and for propelling service trains in the channel tunnel. They are cleared to travel to Calais, Ashford, or St. Pancras; since 2007 they have been authorised to rescue trains on High Speed 1 in the event of a power failure. They have also been used to haul the

SNCF TGV Iris 320 Iris 320 is a modified TGV train operated by SNCF International as a dedicated track recording train for high-speed railways. The train can run at and consists of two power cars and eight trailer coaches, providing a long laboratory. It was ...

test train through the Channel Tunnel. In 2007 the locomotives were fitted with

diesel particulate filter A diesel particulate filter (DPF) is a device designed to remove diesel exhaust#Particulates, diesel particulate matter or soot from the exhaust gas of a diesel engine.Tom Nash (May 2003) "Diesels: The Smoke is clearing", ''Motor '' Vol.199 No. ...

s for the

exhaust gas Exhaust gas or flue gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, fuel oil, biodiesel blends, or coal. According to the type of engine, it is discharged into the atmosphere through ...

es, which replaced the exhaust scrubber wagons that were previously coupled to the engines. Following a series of tunnel breakdowns due to snow during winter 2009/10, during which the locomotives were extensively used, in November 2010 Eurotunnel announced it was to acquire two more

Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...

rescue locomotivesThe MaK plant where the locomotives were built was part of the Krupp group in the 1990s with co-financing from

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...

, at a cost of €1.3 million.Sources: * *See 16–21 December European snowfall The locomotives acquired were similar NS 6400 locomotives bought second hand from DB Schenker Nederland, which were renumbered as 0006-0007.Sources: * * Eurotunnel acquired a further three in September 2016. One of these three will be retained as a

shunter A switcher locomotive (American English), shunter locomotive (British English), station pilot (British English), or shifter locomotive ( Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distan ...

to work at the goods yard at Calais-Fréthun, and has received the silver and blue Europorte livery, while the other two have the grey and yellow Eurotunnel livery identical to the remainder of the fleet.

Notes

References

External links

;Images * * *, maintenance at the former NedTrain workshops in Tilburg {{British Rail Locomotives 0001 Bo-Bo locomotives MaK locomotives Channel Tunnel Railway locomotives introduced in 1992 Standard-gauge locomotives of Great Britain Standard-gauge locomotives of France Diesel–electric locomotives of France Diesel–electric locomotives of Great Britain Shunting locomotives