The

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

Class BB 17000 B-B was a class of AC

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 or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

s built between 1965 and 1968. The class was used for

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

duties on railway lines around

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, notably powering

VB2N VB often refers to volleyball, a team sport. VB, Vb, and variants may refer to: Places * Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (ISO code VB), Italy * Vero Beach, a city in Florida, USA * Virginia Beach, a city in Virginia, USA Companies and organiza ...

push-pull sets. They were monophase locomotives (running off

25 kV AC Railway electrification systems using alternating current (AC) at are used worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. It is usually supplied at the standard utility frequency (typically 50 or 60Hz), which simplifies traction substations. The d ...

overhead supply) and had the nickname "danseuses" or "dancers". By 2020 the 105-strong class of locomotives had all been withdrawn. One member of the class had been named, BB 17051 ''

Cormeilles-en-Parisis Cormeilles-en-Parisis (, literally ''Cormeilles in Parisis'') is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in Northern France. Inhabitants are called ''Cormeillais(e)''. Neighbouring communes * Argenteuil * La Frette-sur-Seine * ...

''.

Service

After spending a varied first part of their careers hauling different types of train, the locomotives were regrouped for use on the Parisian "trains de la banlieue" or suburban trains. They were all owned and operated by

Transilien Transilien () is the brand name given to the commuter rail network serving Île-de-France, the region surrounding and including the city of Paris. The network consists of eight lines: Transilien Line H, H, Transilien Line J, J, Transilien Line ...

References

17000 B-B locomotives Alstom locomotives Standard gauge electric locomotives of France Railway locomotives introduced in 1965 {{France-rail-transport-stub Passenger locomotives