4 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. China Railways DF8 0019: Alancrh· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. China Railways DF8B 7001 20170909: Changzhensky· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 3. China Railways DF8 0001 20111007: 颐园新居· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. Kenya Railways DF8B locomotive on the new SGR line, 06-06-2017: Erasmus Kamugisha· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The DF8 (Chinese: 东风8) is a type of diesel-electric locomotive used by China Railway in the People's Republic of China. It was in production from 1984 until mid-1990s, with mass production starting in 1989. The revised DF8B is still in production today.
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.
- 4.8 MW is about 56 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1984
- number built
- 141
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇨🇳 China
- builders
- CRRC, CRRC Qishuyan Co., Ltd.
- operators
- China State Railway Group, Ministry of Railways of the People's Republic of China
- top speed
- 120 km/h
- power
- 4.8 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Co′Co′
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q747789, Wikipedia: China Railways DF8 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.