| This was my first glimpse of one of the new Ceske Drahy Class 380 electrics. This photo is too blurred to read the number, but it wouldnt surprise me if this is #380001-8, as full production isnt slated to start until 2013, although I understand that #380002-8 is also already built and in testing. This prototype (if Im right about it being the prototype), was built in 2008, but from then until 2011 it was used mostly around Ostrava on freights, and this was the first time I spotted it in Prague, as well as the first time I know if it operating in passenger service (That doesnt mean, of course, that it wasnt used for this in Ostrava). These four-axle, multi-voltage units are planned to have 8,583 horsepower (6,400Kw) and a maximum speed of 200Km/h. Total published weight per unit is 86.7 metric tonnes. The planned voltages are 3000v DC, 25,000v 50Hz AC, and 15,000v 16.7Hz AC, which will allow their operation throughout most of the Czech Republic, as well as Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Its also expected that ZSSK will eventually have some of them, as the orders have already been submitted to Skoda, but the ZSSK units will have slower gearing for 160Km/h, and be designated Class 381. What is perhaps most notable about these units is that they are first first all-new electric locomotives ordered by CD, as the rest of the CD fleet is inherited from CSD, and the newest units from CSD date to 1991, making the 380 the first new class introduced to Czech mainlines (not including leased units and units for small operators) in 17 years. |