7 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SAR Class 12E 12-003: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. Class 12E MetroBlitz: User:Richard Niven· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. SAR Class 12E 12-001: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. SAR Class 12E 12-002: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 5. SAR Class 12E 12-003 ID: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. SAR Class 12E 12-004: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 7. SAR Class 12E 12-005: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The South African Railways Class 12E of 1983 was an electric locomotive. On 16 January 1984, the South African Railways inaugurated the MetroBlitz high speed interurban train service between Pretoria and Johannesburg. Five Class 12E electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement that entered service in 1983 were designed and built specifically for the MetroBlitz.
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 44 years ago, in 1982.
- Top speed is 1.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Weighs about as much as 14 African elephants (~6 t each).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1982–1983
- in service from
- 1983
- number built
- 5
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- builders
- Union Carriage & Wagon
- designer
- Union Carriage & Wagon
- operators
- Transnet Freight Rail
- top speed
- 150 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- 3 kV DC catenary
- wheel arrangement
- Bo'Bo'
- weight
- 83.6 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7565455, Wikipedia: South African Class 12E (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.