what is it?
The SNCF class BB 20004 locomotive was a dual-voltage test-bed locomotive transformed from the damaged BB16540 in 1959. After the end of its test period in 1969 it was reinstated with its original equipment under its original number BB16540.
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 67 years ago, in 1959.
- Top speed is 1.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- 2.6 MW is about 31 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 14.4 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1959
- in service from
- 1959
- number built
- 1
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇫🇷 France
- builders
- Alstom
- operators
- Société nationale des chemins de fer français
- top speed
- 150 km/h
- power
- 2.6 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- Catenary, 1.5 kV DC, 25 kV AC
- wheel arrangement
- Bo-Bo
- length
- 14.4 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q585475, Wikipedia: SNCF Class BB 20004 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.