#4160· HLE 18
Belgian Railways Class 18 (Alsthom)
🇧🇪 Belgium ·built by Alstom· from 1973· locomotive class of 6 Belgian electric locomotives built by Alsthom in 1973–1974
3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. NMBS 1802: Spoorjan· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. 1803-1806 - panoramio: Jan Uyttebroeck· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. SNCB Alsthom locomotive 1802 hauling a train at Compiègne, 1989: Phil Richards from London, UK· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The Belgian Railways Class 18 was a type of electric locomotive operated by NMBS/SNCB of Belgium. Six locomotives of this type entered service between 1973 and 1974. They were derived from the French SNCF CC 40100 express passenger locomotives.
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 53 years ago, in 1973.
- Top speed is 1.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 13 minutes.
- 4.3 MW is about 51 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 19 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 22.1 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 26 years (1973–1999).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1973–1974
- in service from
- 1973
- retired
- 1999
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 6
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇧🇪 Belgium
- builders
- Alstom
- operators
- SNCB/NMBS
- top speed
- 180 km/h
- power
- 4.3 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 1500 V DC, 3000 V DC
- wheel arrangement
- C′C′
- length
- 22.1 m
- weight
- 113 t
- Dutch name
- HLE 18
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q132346, Wikipedia: Belgian Railways Class 18 (Alsthom) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.