3ES8-001 Completed Preliminary Tests

On 4 May 2022, UL announced that preliminary tests of the prototype 3ES8 locomotive were completed at the Shcherbinka test centre. The Malakhit locomotive made an obligatory 5,000 km test run, with a maximum speed of up to 120 km/h, hauling a train weighing over 5,600 t. During a month and a half, EMC measurements and equipment interaction in the machine were assessed, and preliminary braking tests were carried out.

The locomotive 3ES8-001 was declared ready for acceptance and certification tests, which begun in early May and will continue until September 2022. In addition to the VNIIZhT facility, part of the testing will take place on the Belorechenskaya - Maykop section on the RZD network, where the country's only testing site for the impact on the track and switches of rapid trains and heavy trains is located.

Upon completion of the full cycle of tests, an acceptance committee will be convened to make a decision on issuing Malakhit a certificate of compliance with the TR TS standards of the Customs Union.

The Class 3ES8 will become the platform for creating a whole line of new locomotives with different characteristics, including those for hauling rapid container trains. UL has already started designing these new Malakhit models.