#3943
SNCF Class BB 9400
🇫🇷 France ·built by Schneider Electric· from 1967· class of 135 French B′B′ electric locomotives
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3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. BB 9470 at Lyon-Perrache: Murgatroyd49· CC BY 4.0
- 2. 09.04.87 Béziers BB9491 & BB9489 (6540644893): Phil Richards from London, UK· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 3. Voie à deux files de rails près de Tournon: Mouliric· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The SNCF Class BB 9400 was a class of Bo'Bo' electric locomotives of SNCF. They were used to haul L’Aquilon, a high-speed passenger train between Paris, Dijon and Lyon-Perrache. The locomotives were given the nickname "Vespa", as they were very lightweight. They were one of a series of locomotives referred to as "BB Jacquemin", as they used bogies designed by engineer André Jacquemin.
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 59 years ago, in 1967.
- Weighs about as much as 10 African elephants (~6 t each).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1967–1969
- number built
- 135
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇫🇷 France
- builders
- Schneider Electric
- designer
- Paul Arzens, André Jacquemin
- operators
- Société nationale des chemins de fer français
- top speed
- 130 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 1500 V DC
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- weight
- 60 t
- nicknames
- Vespa
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q2876880, Wikipedia: SNCF Class BB 9400 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.