#5485· HLE 18
Belgian Railways Class 18 (Siemens)
🇧🇪 Belgium ·built by Siemens Mobility· from 2008· class of 120 Belgian electric locomotives, built by Siemens 2008–2011
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10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SNCB NMBS 1803: Luxmaster051 at Luxembourgish Wikipedia· Attribution
- 2. SNCB Loc 1857 R01: Marc Ryckaert· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. Siemens 18 Pepinster: EveryPicture· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. SNCB Class 18 (Siemens) 1842 at Herbesthal: Charles01· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. SNCB Class 18 in Leuven: Mikefoxtrot· CC0
- 6. SNCB HLE 18 - Siemens ES2007: WingeTrain· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 7. SNCB HLE18 1884 (50983473696): Nelso Silva from Porto, Portugal· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 8. HLE18 Electric Locomotive (55091903479): Samson Ng . D201@EAL· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 9. SNCB Class 18 & ICNG, Bruxelles-Midi: RAIL P ( RAIL.PHOTOGRAPHY )· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 10. SNCB Class 18, Brussel-Noord: RAIL P ( RAIL.PHOTOGRAPHY )· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The SNCB/NMBS HLE 18 (Siemens class ES60U3) are a series of four axle Bo′Bo′ multivoltage electric Siemens EuroSprinter locomotives ordered in two batches of sixty in 2006 and 2008. The locomotives were supplied for use by SNCB/NMBS (Belgian national railways) on passenger services. 96 of the class form the HLE 18 class, 24 units fitted with an automatic central coupler form the SNCB HLE 19 class.
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 18 years ago, in 2008.
- Top speed is 1.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 12 minutes.
- 6 MW is about 71 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 15 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 19.6 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 3 years (2009–2012).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 2008–2011
- in service from
- 2009
- retired
- 2012
- status
- retired
- number built
- 120
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇧🇪 Belgium
- builders
- Siemens
- operators
- SNCB/NMBS
- top speed
- 201 km/h
- power
- 6 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 3,000 V DC, 1,500 V DC, 25 kV 50 Hz AC
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- length
- 19.6 m
- weight
- 88 t
- Dutch name
- HLE 18
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q910628, Wikipedia: Belgian Railways Class 18 (Siemens) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.