#4323
South African Class 17E
🇿🇦 South Africa ·built by Union Carriage & Wagon· from 1977· class of South African electric locomotives rebuilt from class 6E1, series 7,8, and 9
4 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SAR Class 17E E1826: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. SAR Class 17E E1913: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. SAR Class 17E E1921: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. SAR Class 17E E1924: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The Spoornet Class 17E of 1993 was a South African electric locomotive. During 1993 and 1994, Spoornet modified several Class 6E1, Series 7, 8 and 9 locomotives to improve their braking and traction reliability for service on the Natal mainline.
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 49 years ago, in 1977.
- Weighs about as much as 15 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 14 years (1993–2007).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1977–1982
- in service from
- 1993
- retired
- 2007
- status
- retired
- number built
- 139
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- builders
- Union Carriage & Wagon
- designer
- Union Carriage & Wagon
- operators
- Transnet Freight Rail
- top speed
- 113 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- 3 kV DC catenary
- wheel arrangement
- Bo'Bo'
- weight
- 88.9 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7565481, Wikipedia: South African Class 17E (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.