The Shaoshan 8 (SS8; Chinese: 韶山8) is a semi-high-speed

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 ...

used on the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

's national railway system. The SS8 is based on its predecessor, the SS5, and was developed and built by CSR

Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Works CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., Ltd. is one of the electric locomotive manufacturers in China. It is one of the subsidiaries of CRRC. History Predecessor Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Works was founded in 1936. CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., Ltd. O ...

Production

A total of 245 (0001–0243, 2001–2002) SS8s have been built since 1994. Batch production commenced in 1997.

Routes

The only route they were used on was the Jingguang line, the railway line linking

Beijing West railway station Beijingxi (Beijing West) railway station (), colloquially referred to as ''West Station'' (), is located in western Beijing's Fengtai District. Opened in early 1996 after three years of construction, it was the largest railway station in As ...

with

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. The SS8 currently serves the

Shanghai–Kowloon through train The Shanghai–Kowloon through train is an intercity railway service between Hung Hom station in Kowloon, Hong Kong and Shanghai railway station in China, jointly operated by the MTR Corporation Limited of Hong Kong and China's national rail serv ...

and the

Beijing–Kowloon through train The Beijing–Kowloon through train () is an intercity railway service between Hung Hom station (formerly Kowloon station until 1998) in Hong Kong and the Beijing West railway station, jointly operated by the MTRC of Hong Kong and China Railway, ...

Speed record

On June 24, 1998, the SS8 broke the Chinese rail speed record by achieving a top speed of on a test run between

Xuchang Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province of China, province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the s ...

and Xiaoshangqiao. The locomotive used was fleet number 0001.

Use on KCR

When the Guangzhou–Shenzhen railway was electrified,

China Railway China State Railway Group Company, Ltd., doing business as China Railway (CR), is the national passenger and freight railroad corporation of the People's Republic of China. China Railway operates passenger and freight transport throughout Ch ...

extended through trains into Hong Kong via the

Kowloon–Canton Railway The Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR; ) was a railway network in Hong Kong.Legislative Council information paper CB(1)357/07-08(0 THB(T) CR 8/986/00, CB(1)1749/07-08(0/ref> It was owned and operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC ...

(KCR)

East Rail line The East Rail line () is one of ten lines of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. It used to be one of the three lines of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR) network. It was known as the KCR British Section () from 1910 to 1996, ...

. These trains were initially hauled by an SS8

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

but their pantographs were considered harmful to KCR's

catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary (, ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, superficia ...

even after necessary conversions had been made. So, for a long time,

China Railways DF11 The Dongfeng -11 diesel locomotives (DF11)(Chinese:东风11), is a semi-high-speed diesel locomotive, from China Qishuyan Locomotive Works Manufacturing Co. used by the China Railway. Overview China Railways DF11 Diesel-electric locomot ...

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s were used. After KCR provided their technical requirements of HK-compliance pantographs to China Railway, the company adapted some of their SS8's in order to meet the pantograph requirements. As of March 2010, the SS8 is still the only China Railway electric locomotive allowed to access Hong Kong.

External links

SS8 on KCR East Rail Line
''YouTube''
SS8型电力机车_非人狂想屋
25 kV AC locomotives Bo-Bo locomotives SS8 Zhuzhou locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1994 Standard gauge locomotives of China {{Electric-loco-stub