Last week, ČD took delivery of two more new Siemens Vectron locomotives from the leasing company RSL and immediately put them into service at the head of the Západní expres, Krušnohor and Slovácký expres trains. The new locomotives can be found on the Prague - Plzeň - Cheb, Cheb - Ústí nad Labem and Prague - Pardubice - Olomouc - Staré Město u Uherske Hradiste lines.
The last two machines planned for this year are still to be delivered. Their handover is scheduled for December. In 2024, RSL will deliver a further 22 Siemens Vectron locomotives to Czech Railways, fulfilling the framework contract for 50 machines.
The Siemens Vectron locomotives have a top speed of 200 km/h and an output of 6.4 MW. They are designed for operation on lines with a traction system of 3 kV DC, 25 kV 50 Hz AC and 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC. They are equipped with the ETCS train control system and GSM-R radio communication. Czech Railways operates them on domestic routes and on connections to Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. In addition to the locomotives leased from the leasing companies ELL (10 units) and RSL (50 units), they own one locomotive and have ordered a further 50 locomotives in the 230 km/h version from Siemens.
