The Sŏngun Red Flag ( ko, 선군붉은기, ''Sŏngun Pulg'ŭn'gi'') class is a group of

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 ...

s manufactured by the Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works for the

Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway (), commonly called the State Rail () is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea and has its headquarters at Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song. History ...

Description

On 5 January 2011, the

Korean Central News Agency The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946 and now features onli ...

announced that an unveiling ceremony had taken place for a new electric locomotive built by the Kim Chong-t'ae locomotive factory for the Korean State Railway. The primary design goal was to create a locomotive that produces higher power output with lower power usage.우리 나라에서 최첨단교류기관차 개발
(in Korean) Given the Sŏngun Red Flag class name by Kim Jong-il (much like the prototype of the Red Flag 1 locomotive was given its name by

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

), the new locomotive is the first to be built in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

with asynchronous motors.북한 순수 기술의 선군붉은기 1호와 각종 북한기차들
(in Korean) Intended for use on freight trains in mountainous areas, it has a continuous power output of ,朝鲜铁路机车车辆概况一览
(in Chinese) resulting in a tractive effort nearly 1.5 times that of the Red Flag 1 class, while consuming 50% less power. The twin-cab body rides on two two-axle, self-steering bogies with a computerised braking system. It is equipped with a computerised operation control system with four LCD display screens in each cab.朝鲜铁路机车车辆概况一览（续）
(in Chinese) Although the KCNA report claimed that this was developed domestically, the control system is made by

CNR Dalian CRRC Dalian Co., Ltd. (), often abbreviated as DLoco, is a company located in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China, producing railway locomotives, multiple units and diesel engines. The factory was established in 1899 during the period of constructio ...

in China. This is also the case with the asynchronous motors, which are actually Chinese-made Xiangyang induction motors. Numbered in the 0000 series, the prototype was painted in a special red and blue paint scheme, but production versions are painted in a variant of the new standard light green over dark green livery; this also differs from the prototype in some details, such as the fluting on the sides and the shape of the upper headlamp. At least one production unit has been seen numbered in the 4000 series (4071); this series is allotted to the Ch'ŏngnyŏnjŏl Kinyŏm-class class, although the highest known number assigned to one of those locomotives is 4056; this could mean that production units are now being numbered from 4070. The prototype has been used for a number of special events, including a ceremony in which Kim Jong-il inspected the prototype, saying that "production of modern railway vehicles is important to our railway modernisation policy." and the opening of the Songdowŏn Line on 23 September 2014 was marked by a special inaugural train pulled by the prototype. One of the production locomotives has been deployed to the

Sinuiju Sinŭiju (''Sinŭiju-si'', ; known before 1925 in English as Yeng Byen City) is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong, Liaoning, China across the international border of the Yalu River. It is the capital of North P'yŏngan province. Part of ...

Locomotive Brigade.

References

{{DPRKloco Locomotives of North Korea Kim Chong-tae Works locomotives 3000 V DC locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 2011 Bo′Bo′ locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of North Korea