#4820· DR-Baureihe 252
DR Class 252
🇩🇪 Germany ·built by LEW Hennigsdorf· from 1991· class of 4 East German electric locomotives
2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. MEG 804 - Riesa 0807 - Ansicht02: Florian Waßmann· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. 156 004 Ausbesserungswerk Dessau: Rainerhaufe· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The DR Class 252 (after 1992: DB 156) was the last new development of an electric locomotive for the Deutsche Reichsbahn. It was intended as a supplement to the Class 250, and in further series as a successor to the Class 251 locomotives on the Rübelandbahn (electrified with 25 kV 50 Hz) and as a locomotive for transit traffic with a maximum speed of 160 km/h, which was to be used on the West Berlin-Hannover main line via Berlin-Staaken-Oebisfelde, which was to be expanded. However, the last two projects were never realized.
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 35 years ago, in 1991.
- Weighs about as much as 20 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 19.5 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 30 years (1991–2021).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1991
- in service from
- 1991
- retired
- 2021
- status
- retired
- number built
- 4
- kind
- electric locomotive
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- builders
- LEW Hennigsdorf, AEG
- operators
- Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Reichsbahn (GDR), Mitteldeutsche Eisenbahn
- top speed
- 125 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 15 kV, 16,7 Hz AC
- wheel arrangement
- Co'Co'
- length
- 19.5 m
- weight
- 120 t
- Dutch name
- DR-Baureihe 252
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q881351, Wikipedia: DR Class 252 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.