#4529· HLE 21
Belgian Railways Class 21
🇧🇪 Belgium ·built by Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi· from 1984· class of 60 Belgian electric locomotives
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3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. HLE 2139 Oostende: Peter Van den Bossche from Mechelen, Belgium· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 2. HLE 2148 - P 8009 - Bruxelles-Nord 31-07-2024: Stratoswift· CC BY 4.0
- 3. Class 21 locomotives at Ostend (313049357): LHOON from Mechelen, Belgium· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
SNCB Class 21 is part of the large 1980s family of 144 electric locomotives. The family was made up of Classes 11 (12), 12 (12), 21 (60) and 27 (60). Classes 11, 12 and 21 were nearly twice as powerful as Classes 22, 23 and 25 while Class 27 was more than twice as powerful as the 1950s 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 42 years ago, in 1984.
- Top speed is 1.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 15 minutes.
- 3.3 MW is about 39 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 14 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 18.7 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
- 1984–1987
- number built
- 60
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇧🇪 Belgium
- builders
- Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi, La Brugeoise et Nivelles
- operators
- SNCB/NMBS
- top speed
- 160 km/h
- power
- 3.3 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 3000 V DC
- wheel arrangement
- Bo-Bo
- length
- 18.7 m
- weight
- 84 t
- Dutch name
- HLE 21
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q928625, Wikipedia: Belgian Railways Class 21 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.