3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 07 770 Bw Dresden Alt, 128 001: Falk2· CC BY-SA 3.0 de
- 2. AEG 128001 Trier Hbf 1996: Cobatfor· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. Baureihe 145 067-5: Thomas Wolf ( Der Wolf im Wald )· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
128 001, as registered at Deutsche Bahn, or 12X, as named by its manufacturer AEG Schienenfahrzeuge and its successive owners ADtranz and Bombardier Transportation, is an experimental high-performance electric locomotive built in 1994, which was operated as testbed and test locomotive until 2010. The design of the locomotive featured several technological innovations, including power electronics using new types of semiconductors and water cooling, a new final drive concept, a new bogie concept, and protruding windflaps for improved aerodynamics that gave the locomotive a unique look. The development of the locomotive was initiated in anticipation of a major tender for universal locomotives by German railways, but moved towards a modular design when the railways moved towards tendering different types of locomotives for different services.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 32 years ago, in 1994.
- Top speed is 2.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 8 minutes.
- 7.2 MW is about 85 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 14 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 19.5 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
high-speed train: Built for 200–350 km/h on dedicated lines, like the TGV, ICE or Shinkansen.
spec sheet
- built
- 1994
- number built
- 1
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- builders
- AEG, LEW Hennigsdorf
- operators
- Deutsche Bahn, Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon-Bahn, DB Cargo, BASF
- top speed
- 283 km/h
- power
- 7.2 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- original:, 15 kV/16.7 Hz AC catenary, after reconstruction:, 15 kV/16.7 Hz and 25 kV/50 Hz AC catenary
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- length
- 19.5 m
- weight
- 85.9 t
- Dutch name
- Baureihe 128
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q291318, Wikipedia: DBAG Class 128 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.