#3636
SNCF Class BB 30000
🇫🇷 France ·built by Fives Group· from 1961· class of 2 French electric locomotives
what is it?
The SNCF Class BB 30000 electric locomotives were built by Fives-Lille, CEM and MTE in 1961. They were the tri-current version of BB 9400 "Vespa" locomotives, of which they were closely derived, and inherited much of the knowledge of the experiences of BB 20004.
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 65 years ago, in 1961.
- Top speed is 1.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- 2.3 MW is about 26 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 12 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 14.4 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 13 years (1961–1974).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1961
- in service from
- 1961
- retired
- 1974
- status
- retired
- number built
- 2
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇫🇷 France
- builders
- Fives Group, Compagnie Électro-Mécanique, Matériel de Traction Electrique
- operators
- Société nationale des chemins de fer français
- top speed
- 150 km/h
- power
- 2.3 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- Catenary, 1.5 kV DC, 3 kV DC
- wheel arrangement
- B′B′
- length
- 14.4 m
- weight
- 69 t
- nicknames
- Vespa tricourant
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q748196, Wikipedia: SNCF Class BB 30000 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.