The Škoda 109E locomotive (also marketed as

Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek (; 19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final ...

locomotive) was originally conceived in 2004 and designed for operation in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

as well as the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The 109E Škoda has a top speed of 200 km/h and is compatible with both AC and DC catenaries, meeting the basic characteristics of a modern multisystem locomotive.

ČD Class 380

In 2005

České dráhy České dráhy (English: ''Czech Railways''), often shortened to ČD, is the major Rail transport, railway operator in the Czech Republic providing regional and long-distance services. The company was established in January 1993, shortly after ...

ordered 20 locomotives with delivery in 2009 and certifications for service in all of the above-mentioned countries. The first locomotive was actually delivered in 2010 and lacked any national service certification (only trial service certification for the Czech Republic), as result České dráhy refused to accept the locomotives.E15: Nová škodovácká lokomotiva získala evropský certifikát
/ref> In April 2013 the locomotive class received its

TSI TSI may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Technology Schools Initiative * Thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin * Time-Slot Interchange, communications network switches * Total solar irradiance received at top of atmosphere * Triple suga ...

certificate and the manufacturer hopes that it will receive national service certifications soon (especially for Czech Republic, Austria and Poland).

ZSSK Class 381

Škoda's first export order for 109Es came from ZSSK in Slovakia. Initially two locomotives were ordered. These were made at the Škoda factory in

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

. They have a licensed top speed of , the maximum speed on Slovak Railways, and are fitted with

GSM-R GSM-R, Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway or GSM-Railway is an international wireless communications standard for railway communication and applications. A sub-system of European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), it is use ...

/ ETCS Level 1. The locomotive class received Slovak service certification in 2012. Locomotives are designated as class 381 of ZSSK, numbers 381.001-7 & 381.002-5 and are being used mostly on regional trains on the

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

Galanta Galanta (, ) is a town with about 15,000 inhabitants in the Trnava Region of Slovakia. It is situated 50 km due east of the Slovak capital Bratislava. Etymology The name is derived from a Slavic name ''Golęta'' (initially a collective name ...

Nové Zámky Nové Zámky (; ) is a town in Nové Zámky District in the Nitra Region of southwestern Slovakia. Geography The town is located on the Danubian Lowland, on the Nitra River, at an altitude of 119 metres. It is located around 100 km fr ...

route.

DB Class 102

In June 2013 Škoda Transportation announced that it won a tender for 6

Push–pull train Push–pull is a configuration for locomotive-hauled trains, allowing them to be driven from either end of the train, whether having a locomotive at each end or not. A push–pull train has a locomotive at one end of the train, connected vi ...

sets for

DB Regio DB Regio AG () is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and therefore part of the DB Regio business segment, which also includes DB Regionn ...

including 6 109Es designated as DB Class 102. The tender included a requirement for speed, as the trainsets will be used on the Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway. Trainsets were expected to be delivered in 2016. But the vehicles were not authorized by

EBA Ẹ̀bà ( Yoruba) also known as Ebe or Pinon' (in Togo, Benin, and southern Ghana) is a staple swallow from Nigeria, Togo and Benin, also eaten in the West African sub-region and other African countries. The term èbà originates from Yoruba. ...

authority until 2019, yet with restrictions. DB Regio refused to accept the trains due to poor reliability, with the fleet finally beginning entry to service on 12 October 2020, some four years late.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skoda 109E Škoda locomotives 15 kV AC locomotives 25 kV AC locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 2008 Standard-gauge locomotives of Austria Standard-gauge locomotives of Germany Standard-gauge locomotives of Hungary Standard-gauge locomotives of Poland Standard-gauge locomotives of the Czech Republic Standard-gauge locomotives of Slovakia Electric locomotives of Germany Bo′Bo′ electric locomotives

ČD Class 380

ZSSK Class 381

DB Class 102

See also

References