The

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

Asiarunner locomotives are contemporaries to the

Eurorunner The Eurorunner family of locomotives are a series of medium- to high-power diesel-electric locomotives built by Siemens for the European market. Introduced from 2002 onwards, they share design characteristics with the successful Eurosprinter ran ...

class and are designed specifically for the South-East Asian market - in particular

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, ...

- key features are a Co'Co' wheel arrangement (resulting in low

axle load An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearin ...

s) and good clearance (see

Loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...

)

Development

Much of the development of the Asiarunner locomotive had to be done from scratch, since Siemens had no contemporary example of a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

, or of a locomotive that was built to a smaller

loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...

that UIC 505-1. Nevertheless, the design mirrors in part the modular concept found in Siemens other locomotives (the Eurosprinter and Eurorunner). The main frame is one such module. The drivers cabins are also modular components. Access to the main engine compartment is via the roof, which has three removable segments, there is a single side corridor which allows an escape route in the event of certain emergencies (compare the wide gauge Eurorunners which have two passageways) The engine is a 12-cylinder MTU model - similar to that used in the

except with 12 instead of 16 cylinders. The locos can work in multiple with up to three connected.

Operators

Whilst the Asiarunner was designed for use in Asia, Africa, South America and Australia, its only operator is Vietnam Railways, with 16 AR15s running passenger and freight services on its

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...

–

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is on ...

–

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

route.Universal Locomotive AR15 VR, Vietnam Siemens.com
/ref>

References

External links

* * ;Images * * {{Siemens Siemens locomotives Diesel locomotives of Vietnam Co′Co′ locomotives