EP08 (also manufactured as Pafawag 102E) is the name for a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

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 g ...

used by the

railway operator ''

Polskie Koleje Państwowe (''PKP S.A.''; en, Polish State Railways, Inc.) is the dominant railway operator in Poland. The company was founded when the former state-owned enterprise was divided into several units based on the need for separation between infrastructure ...

'' (PKP), produced between 1972 and 1976 in

Pafawag Pafawag (Państwowa Fabryka Wagonów) (English: National Rail Carriage Factory) is a Polish locomotive manufacturer based in Wrocław. The company became part of Adtranz in 1997 as Adtranz Pafawag, and in 2001 part of Bombardier Transportation. I ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

. The construction is based on the EU07 locomotive.

History

In the 1970s PKP intended to increase speed of Polish passenger trains, which resulted mainly in building CMK line (Trunk Line) and the modernisation of EU05 locomotives into EP05 series. Meanwhile a project was opened to introduce new

s able to pull trains with speed exceeding , based on

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EU06 and local EU07 machines. In 1972 the first prototype left Pafawag works and until 1976 a total number of 15 units had been produced. Further production was ceased due to huge orders of freight locomotives and insufficient funds for importing foreign parts for the machine. EP08 were the first locomotives in Poland to exceed the top speed limit of and contributed (alongside the EP05 class) into fast development of high-speed passenger connections. All machines of this class station in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

but as top speed on Warsaw-

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

line had been increased to they are no longer used on regular basis and serve as auxiliary machines, mostly pulling trains from Warsaw to

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been ...

. Since 2015, EP08 began receiving major repair and modernizations in ZNTK Oleśnica, later Olkol Oleśnica. Halogen headlights were installed, air conditioning added, modern radiotelephones added (except 001), multiple steering parts removed (again except 001)

Technical data

As the EP08 is tightly based on EU06 and EU07 locomotives it is important to compare those series while writing about technical features. EP08 is a

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 i ...

locomotive with four axles mounted on two bogies. Each axle is propelled separately by an EE541a

traction motor A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit. Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles ( electric multiple ...

. The cab has two identical crew compartments on both ends. The main differences between EP08 and previous EU07 locomotives are as follows. Transmission was changed from 79:18 into 77:24 what resulted in possible top speed of . However, the machined performed poorly driving with such speed, so the top speed was set to . First five units were equipped with

plain bearing A plain bearing, or more commonly sliding contact bearing and slide bearing (in railroading sometimes called a solid bearing, journal bearing, or friction bearing), is the simplest type of bearing, comprising just a bearing surface and no roll ...

s what proved insufficient for higher speeds and as a result all these locomotives were rebuilt as EU07 series (numbers 241 to 244). In later units

roller bearing In mechanical engineering, a rolling-element bearing, also known as a rolling bearing, is a bearing which carries a load by placing rolling elements (such as balls or rollers) between two concentric, grooved rings called races. The relative m ...

's were used. Another significant change comparing to EU07 series was exchange of traction motors to newer EE541g type with higher isolation class.

Windscreen The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...

s were changed to thick ones with heating layer and pneumatic wipers. However, some solutions from EU07 locomotives which were rather faulty, were copied into this machine, like poor access to internal devices. EU08 is suited for multiple steering work. Locomotive's cab resembles those of EU06 and EU07, but have different, orange and brown painting. Since June 2007

PKP Intercity PKP Intercity is a company of PKP Group responsible for long-distance passenger transport. It runs about 350 trains daily, connecting mainly large agglomerations and smaller towns in Poland. The company also provides most international trains to ...

has started repainting those machines into new, blue and white colours.

Nicknames

*Świnia (Pig) - from its original orange painting.

References

{{PKP Locomotives Pafawag locomotives Bo′Bo′ locomotives 3000 V DC locomotives Polish State Railways electric locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of Poland