#4350
South African Class 7E
🇿🇦 South Africa ·built by Union Carriage & Wagon· from 1978· South African electric locomotive
2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SAR Class 7E E7067: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. Class 7E E7058: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The South African Railways Class 7E is an electric locomotive. South African Railways placed 100 Class 7E electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in service in 1978/79. They were the first 25 kV AC locomotives to enter service in South Africa.
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 48 years ago, in 1978.
- Weighs about as much as 21 African elephants (~6 t each).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1978–1979
- in service from
- 1978
- number built
- 100
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- builders
- Union Carriage & Wagon
- designer
- 50 c/s Group
- operators
- Transnet Freight Rail, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa
- top speed
- 100 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- 25 kV AC 50 Hz catenary
- weight
- 124 t
- nicknames
- MacGyver
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7565577, Wikipedia: South African Class 7E (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.