The DSB class ME are a series of

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conv ...

s, introduced in 1981. A total of 37 units were built, all by the German factory

Henschel Henschel & Son (german: Henschel und Sohn) was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicle ...

for the

Danish State Railways DSB, an abbreviation of ''Danske Statsbaner'' (, ''Danish State Railways''), is the largest Danish train operating company, and the largest in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on most of the Danish railways, goo ...

(DSB). They were among the first AC drive locomotives in serial production. As of 2017, 33 units are still in service.
''DSB Litra ME'' Starting from 2020, the DSB began receiving new Vectron locomotives, the sale of Class Me began, and as of November 2021, 9 units have been sold.

History

The locomotives were designed to haul heavier regional services in

Sjælland Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, in the early 1980s, replacing much of the old

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...

in use at the time. The first unit, 1501 arrived in 1981 after many years of delay. Three years later, in 1983,

DSB DSB may refer to: Science, technology and devices * DsbA, a bacterial member of the Dsb (disulfide bond) family of enzymes * Double strand break, a break in both DNA strands, part of DNA repair * in telecommunications, double-sideband transmission ...

had received a total of 30 units. Although there had been some serious trouble with the locomotives, DSB found a solution on the problems, and an additional seven units were delivered in 1985. As of 2017, 33 units are still in service, three have been scrapped and one is preserved at the

Danish Railway Museum The Danish Railway Museum ( da, Danmarks Jernbanemuseum) is the national railway museum of Denmark, located in the city of Odense. Established in 1975, it is situated in a former engine shed adjacent to the city's main railway station. It is the l ...

. The ME locomotives was expected to be replaced by

IC3 The IC3 (or class MF) is a Danish-built high-comfort medium/long distance diesel multiple-unit train. The sets were built by ABB Scandia (later purchased by Adtranz, which itself was subsequently acquired by Bombardier Transportation) in Rand ...

train sets when the

IC4 The IC4 is an inter-city rail train built by the Italian train manufacturer AnsaldoBreda for the trans-Great Belt routes of Danske Statsbaner (DSB), Denmark's national railway operator. Under DSB's 'Good trains for everyone' plan ('Gode tog til ...

train sets were ready to take over Intercity services. The IC4 train set are very unstable in service and have a variety of problems, however, so they are not going to replace the IC3 train sets in Intercity services. As a result of this DSB have ordered 26 new electric locomotives that are going to replace the ME locomotives by 2020. The units were originally painted in DSB's black/red livery, but in 2006 they were all painted dark blue with red details on the side. In October 2016, DSB began painting the locomotives red to match their new logo. The exhaust stack is below the air intake of the Bombardier double-decker coaches used in regional services. The air in the coaches was found to have a high concentration of

diesel particulate matter Diesel exhaust is the gaseous exhaust produced by a diesel type of internal combustion engine, plus any contained particulates. Its composition may vary with the fuel type or rate of consumption, or speed of engine operation (e.g., idling or at ...

, which induces cancer. DSB changed the air filters in 2013, providing a DPM reduction of 40%. But the concentration could still induce cancer for train staff, because they spend a long time in the coaches. December the 11th 2021, marks the Class Me’s last day of service in DSB, as it marks the last day of the current service schedule. The 12th a new schedule will enter service. In the new schedule, the local services run by ME locomotives, will be fully replaced by the new DSB Class EB Vectron and the DSB Class MG IC4 (København - Kalundborg) The rest of the Class Me will join the already 9 sold, in a new life in Sweden at Nordic Re-Finance AB as Class TME. They will be upgraded with the new ETCS signal system, and can therefore also run in Denmark as well as Sweden and Norway. Few units will keep the current Danish ATC, and two units will still be in Denmark for the queen, as the line from Fredericia to Aarhus is yet to be electrified.

Sources

External links

* {{EMD misc ME Co′Co′ locomotives Henschel locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1981 Diesel-electric locomotives of Denmark Standard gauge locomotives of Denmark Passenger locomotives

History

See also

Sources

External links