6 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Austria 1043 Lienz: Herbert Ortner· CC BY 4.0
- 2. ÖBB 1043 002-7 1: MPW57· Public domain
- 3. 06.02.96 Jesenice ÖBB 1043.006: Phil Richards from London, UK· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 4. 1043 006 1994-09-09 Villach: Peter Rabijns· CC BY 2.0
- 5. 1043 009 1994-09-09 Villach: Peter Rabijns· CC BY 2.0
- 6. 119L03250584 Bahnhof Salzburg, Lok 1043.09: TARS631· Attribution
what is it?
The ÖBB Class 1043 is a class of thyristor-controlled universal electric locomotives operated initially by ÖBB. The ten members of the class were derived from the Class Rc operated by the Swedish State Railways (SJ). The locomotives were the first in Austria to use thyristors. After successful test runs on the Semmering and Tauern mountain railway lines, the first four members of the class built by ASEA entered service with the ÖBB in 1971 and in the beginning of 1972, and the remaining six followed after a short delay while other Rc2 were manufactured in 1973.
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 55 years ago, in 1971.
- 4 MW is about 47 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 12 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 15.6 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
- 1971–1974
- retired
- 2001
- status
- retired
- number built
- 10
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- builders
- ASEA
- operators
- Austrian Federal Railways
- top speed
- 135 km/h
- power
- 4 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- length
- 15.6 m
- weight
- 70 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q293637, Wikipedia: ÖBB Class 1043 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.