The Siemens Asiarunner locomotives are contemporaries to the Eurorunner class and are designed specifically for the South-East Asian market - in particular metre gauge - key features are a Co'Co' wheel arrangement (resulting in low axle loads) and good clearance (see Loading gauge)
| Siemens Asiarunner AR15, AR20[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) A Vietnam Railways SE1 train with D20E locomotive at Hue Railway Station in 2010. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Development edit
Much of the development of the Asiarunner locomotive had to be done from scratch, since Siemens had no contemporary example of a narrow gauge, or of a locomotive that was built to a smaller loading gauge that UIC 505-1.[4]
Nevertheless, the design mirrors in part the modular concept found in Siemens other locomotives (the Eurosprinter and Eurorunner). The main frame is one such module. The drivers cabins are also modular components.
Access to the main engine compartment is via the roof, which has three removable segments, there is a single side corridor which allows an escape route in the event of certain emergencies[5] (compare the wide gauge Eurorunners which have two passageways)
The engine is a 12-cylinder MTU model - similar to that used in the Eurorunner except with 12 instead of 16 cylinders.
The locos can work in multiple with up to three connected.
Operators edit
Whilst the Asiarunner was designed for use in Asia, Africa, South America and Australia, its only operator is Vietnam Railways, with 16 AR15s running passenger and freight services on its Hanoi – Da Nang – Ho Chi Minh City route.[3]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "The Asiarunner – The flexible alternative". transportation.siemens.com (archive web.archive.org). Archived from the original on 18 March 2008.
- ^ a b c "Technical data of locomotive". siemens.com.vn. Archived from the original on 28 April 2008. (archive web.archive.org)
- ^ a b c Universal Locomotive AR15 VR, Vietnam Siemens.com
- ^ Marc Oliver Girgert; Armin Gasch (2006). "Der Asiarunner für Vietnam = The asiarunner for Vietnam". Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau (in German). 55 (9). Eurailpress, Hamburg: 580–584. ISSN 0013-2845.
- ^ "News from Transportation Systems : AsiaRunner AR15 VR". siemens.com.vr (archive web.archive.org). Archived from the original on 28 April 2008.
AsiaRunner AR15 VR is the first locomotives in the Asian Runner family for the small gauges: 1000 and 1067mm
External links edit
- "InnoTrans 2006 - Siemens: Asiarunner - Die flexible Entscheidung". lok-report.de, (archive web.archive.org) (in German). Archived from the original on 21 October 2007.
- Tobiáš Fuks (5 July 2010). "Asiarunner Vietnamských železnic". k-report.net (in Czech).
- Images
- "D20E - Vietnam / Dieselloks". bahnbilder.de (in German).
- David Gurnett. "Railways in Vietnam Locomotives-D20E". railvn.byethost3.com.