The Eurotunnel Class 0001

Bo-Bo B-B and Bo-Bo are the 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′Bo′ classifications in ...

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 were built by

Maschinenbau Kiel Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH designed, manufactured and marketed marine diesel engines, diesel locomotives and tracked vehicles under the MaK brand name. The three primary operating divisions of Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH were sold to different companies ...

(manufacturers designation DE 1004) between 1991 and 1992. They are very similar to the

NS 6400 Class The NS Class 6400 is a type of 4 axle diesel-electric freight locomotive. 120 were built by MaK and ABB between 1988 and 1994 for Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Design and description The locomotives were the result of a contract won by MaK and Bro ...

. When operating in the United Kingdom, the locomotives are assigned a

TOPS Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), S ...

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 Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue ...

for rescuing trains in the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...

, 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 High Speed 1 (HS1), legally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of a line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe; ...

in the event of a power failure. They have also been used to haul the SNCF TGV Iris 320 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 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. 5, p. 54, Hearst Business Publ ...

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 an ...

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 The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...

rescue locomotives"The 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 connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated sep ...

, at a cost of €1.3 million.Sources: * *See 16–19 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, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not inten ...

to work at the goods yard at Calais-Fréthun, and has received the silver and blue

Europorte Europorte is a European rail freight company, a subsidiary of Getlink; operating in France and through the Channel Tunnel. The company was formed in 2009 as an entity encompassing the previous operations of Europorte 2 and the France-based bu ...

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