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2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. ET21-71 PL-CTLL: Petr Štefek· CC BY 3.0
- 2. MOs810, WG 2016 47, Dolnoslaskie Zakamarki III (ET21 548 in Jerzmanice Zdroj): MOs810· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
ET21 (also manufactured as Pafawag 3E) is a name for a Polish electric freight locomotive produced between years 1957 to 1971 in Pafawag. It was the first post-war Polish electric locomotive, designed in 1955. Besides being delivered for PKP, ET21 locomotives were delivered to the mining industry, where they are used up to now.
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 69 years ago, in 1957.
- 1.9 MW is about 22 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 19 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 16.8 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
- 1957–1971
- number built
- 726
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇵🇱 Poland
- builders
- Pafawag
- operators
- Polish State Railways, DB Cargo Polska, CTL Logistics, DB Schenker Rail Zabrze
- top speed
- 100 km/h
- power
- 1.9 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 3000 V DC Catenary
- wheel arrangement
- Co′Co′
- length
- 16.8 m
- weight
- 114 t
- nicknames
- Telewizor, Sputnik
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q834789, Wikipedia: PKP class ET21 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.