Pesa Gama is a family of

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

and

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a Battery (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...

s built from 2012 by

Pesa SA Pesa SA (Polish language, Polish: Pojazdy Szynowe Pesa Bydgoszcz) is a Polish rolling stock manufacturer based in Bydgoszcz. The name 'Pesa' derives from the initials PS which stand for ''Pojazdy Szynowe,'' 'railway vehicles' in Polish. Pes ...

company.

History

Origin

In 2001, Pesa had announced that they would change their main focus from repairing locomotives to building their own locomotives. Initially, only two units have been built – the first was a mixed-traffic electric locomotive with an additional diesel engine, the second was a pure diesel. Since then a variety of diesel and electric powered locomotives have been built. As of June 2025, there are 137 locomotives in service, in 4 different versions.

The Gama ''Marathon''

The first model of the family was the 111Ed ''Marathon'' locomotive. Its construction began in early 2012, and premiered on September 18 at the InnoTrans Trade Fair 2012 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. The first test drive took place in October 2012 in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

''Wschód'' Station, and later on the railway lines to

Inowrocław Inowrocław (; , ) is a city in central Poland with a total population of 68,101 (as of December 2022). It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is one of the largest and most historically significant cities within the historic re ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

and Zduńska Wola Karsznice. The behavior of the locomotive was tested working goods trains with different loads until 25 November 2012. From 27 November 2012 to 3 December 2012 the locomotive had been tested on the test track in Żmigród, reaching top speed of 173 km/h, After this, the locomotive was issued with temporary certification to work passenger trains on Polish railway network at speeds up to 160 km/h, and goods trains at speeds up to 140 km/h. In order to become permanently certified for operation, the locomotive had to be tested by railway operators. On 11 January 2013 the locomotive began test service with

Lotos Kolej Orlen Kolej (formerly ''Lotos Kolej sp. z o.o.'' from 2003 until 13 October 2024) is a Polish rail company operating as a subsidiary of PKN Orlen. Orlen Kolej is responsible for transporting Orlen products and delivering petrol for the Gdańsk R ...

, and later also with

PKP Intercity PKP Intercity is the subsidiary of the PKP Group responsible for long-distance rail passenger transport in Poland. It operates around 350 trains daily, connecting large agglomerations and smaller towns in Poland. It offers its services under ...

, Pol-Miedz Trans and Orlen KolTrans. After the test service was successfully concluded, the RTO has issued the final, permanent certificate for the 111Ed (with variants 111E, 111Eb, 111Ec) locomotive on 10 July 2014. LOTOS 111ed-022 2021-08 Zeleznodoroznyi 3

LOTOS 111ed-022 2021-08 Zeleznodoroznyi 3

Diesel-powered Gama

In July 2014, the company built the first diesel-powered Gama, presented in September at InnoTrans. In mid-October, the locomotive began to be tested by IPS Tabor on the Rokietnica – Szamotuły railway line. Since then,

has ordered 10 units.

Full dual-mode Gama

As of 2021, Pesa, together with IPS Tabor, works on a bi-mode Gama (111DE) with a more powerful diesel engine that would enable it to be used as a mainline locomotive on both electrified and unelectrified railway lines.

PKP Intercity

Polish long-distance passenger transport company PKP Intercity has taken delivery of 10 diesel locomotives (111Db), They have been classified as SU160.

References

{{Polish State Railways locomotives Electric locomotives of Poland Diesel locomotives of Poland PESA SA Bo′Bo′ locomotives 1500 V DC locomotives 3000 V DC locomotives 15 kV AC locomotives 25 kV AC locomotives