The Re 460 (popularly known as the Lok 2000) series are modern four-axle electric multipurpose locomotives of the Swiss Federal Railways. The Lok 2000-family locomotives are the last mainline locomotives to be quasi fully developed and produced by Swiss companies. Locomotive construction in Switzerland has since been largely discontinued for economic reasons. Only Stadler Rail still manufactures shunting and rack railway locomotives in the country.

Assignment

The series was introduced as part of the Rail 2000 project, a massive project to modernise and improve the capacity of Switzerland's railways. Upon their entry into service in the early 1990s, they replaced the, Ae 4/7, and series units, and displaced many of the Re 4/4II series into lesser duties. When SBB was split up on 1 September 1999, Re 460 079–118 were assigned to the freight division, later becoming SBB Cargo. It was seen as an advantage to use all Re 460, which had been designed for 200 km/h, for passenger service. The passenger division passed the Re 6/6 to SBB Cargo and bought 079–095 on 1 January 2003, 096–102 in 2004, and the rest in 2005. While originally designed as a multipurpose locomotive, they are now used for passenger services only, often in conjunction with the IC 2000 double-decker or trainsets (often used to pull InterCity and InterRegio trains in German and French language areas). Their freight role has been assumed by Re 482s. They are maintained at Yverdon.

Advertising

Due in part to their large, mainly flat bodysides, Swiss Federal Railways were approached early on with requests for the Re 460 to be used as mobile advertising hoardings. Despite opposition from some quarters, the money that could be earned swayed the decision, and the first such locomotive, Re 460 015 was unveiled in 1994 in Agfa livery. Today no other loco type in Switzerland carries so many different liveries.

Naming

Almost all Re 460 locomotives are named, with the names being applied below the cab window at one end. List of names: !scope="col"| Serial !scope="col"| Name !scope="col"| Period !scope="col"| Livery !scope="row"| Re 460 003 !scope="row"| Re 460 014 !scope="row"| Re 460 015 !scope="row"| Re 460 016 !scope="row"| Re 460 018 !scope="row"| Re 460 018 !scope="row"| Re 460 019 !scope="row"| Re 460 020 !scope="row"| Re 460 021 !scope="row"| Re 460 024 !scope="row"| Re 460 032 !scope="row"| Re 460 033 !scope="row"| Re 460 035 !scope="row"| Re 460 040 !scope="row"| Re 460 056 !scope="row"| Re 460 073 !scope="row"| Re 460 079 !scope="row"| Re 460 079 !scope="row"| Re 460 101 See also: Re 460 special liveries (German Wikipedia)

Accidents and incidents

On 20 February 2015, locomotive No. 460 087-0 was involved in a collision with S-Bahn Class 514 electric multiple unit 514 146–2 at Rafz.

BLS

Swiss company BLS operates 18 similar locomotives, designated Re 465. These locomotives have efficiency modifications, slightly higher power output and tractive effort and individual axle control rather than individual bogie control, but are otherwise identical to the Re 460. Numbered 001–018, all are named. These locomotives are used for both passenger and freight duties by BLS. List of names:

Usage abroad

The MTR Corporation of Hong Kong also operates two Lok2000 variants for its cross-boundary service from Kowloon, Hong Kong, to Guangzhou, China. They were introduced in 1998 when the service was operated by the KCRC; accordingly, the train is called the KTT, which stands for "KCR Through Train". These long-distance trains have ten double-deck carriages and are equipped with knuckle couplers, instead of buffers and chain couplers. While the train has two locomotives, it is not operated in push-pull mode. The 46 Sr2 locomotives of VR (Finnish Railways) are closely based on the Re 460, as are the 22 NSB El 18 class used by Vy of Norway. Indian Railways' WAP-5 electric locomotives are also based on the Re 460. The shape of the modified version of China Railways SS9 electric locomotives is similar to Re 460.