4 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Two NSB El 15 near Narvik: David Gubler· GFDL
- 2. Class 161 Hector Rail Karlstad: Bene Riobó· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 3. Hector Rail Class 161: SRS scandiline· CC BY-SA 2.5
- 4. El15-20733: Sveins· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
NSB El 15 is a class of electric locomotives which are now operated by the Norwegian company Grenland Rail. The locomotives were originally built for the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) in 1967 to replace the NSB El 3 and NSB El 4 engines on Ofoten Line. The main task there is to pull heavy iron ore freight trains, and the El 15 is the most powerful engine which NSB has ever used.
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 59 years ago, in 1967.
- 5.4 MW is about 64 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 22 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 19.8 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1967
- in service from
- 1967
- number built
- 6
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- builders
- ASEA, Thunes mekaniske verksted
- operators
- Hector Rail, LKAB Malmtrafik, Norges Statsbaner
- top speed
- 120 km/h
- power
- 5.4 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 15 kV 16, 2, 3 Hz AC Catenary
- wheel arrangement
- Co′Co′
- length
- 19.8 m
- weight
- 132 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q905198, Wikipedia: NSB El 15 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.