Russia: Two prototype catenary and battery locomotives have been hauling passenger trains at the Kazansky and Kievsky railway stations in Moscow.
The shunting locomotives have already been tested at the TMH plant in Novocherkassk, on the VNIIZhT railway research institute’s test track, and on the test site of the North Caucasus Railway of the Russian Railways.
The EMKA2 locomotives are designed to replace diesel shunting locomotives in large depots and passenger railway stations. According to TMH, this is the first shunting locomotive of the kind, which have been created in the modern history of Russian railway industry. It has previously been announced that the acceptance of the first EMKA2 will be followed the delivery of 131 units to Russian Railways within six years from.
As Vadim Pogrebnyak, deputy master at the Moscow-Kazanskaya passenger station responsible for operations, told the Gudok media that these locomotives can haul both single- and double-deck trains. “The locomotive managed the 13 km gradient without any problems”, he said.
The EMKA 2 is quick to recharge, as driver Denis Tolmachev noted, stating that it took less than 20 minutes to charge the batteries from 69% to 100%. He also praised the spacious control cab with improved noise and vibration insulation. At the same time he felt that the separate switches of the buffer-beam lamps and searchlight could cause some inconvenience, as “their controls are on different sides of the cab”.
The catenary-battery EMKA2 was approved for series production in March this year. The four-axle vehicle is based on the same platform as the TEM23 locomotive, which was described in detail last year.
The electric locomotive uses hybrid traction from overhead wires and lithium-ion batteries, eliminating harmful emissions during operation. The batteries are charged via the standard current collector, both in motion and when stationary, or via an external charger. With such batteries, the EMKA2 is said to be able to haul a train of up to 2,000 t for up to 14 km without catenary.
