NS Class 1700

The NS Class 1700 is a class of electric locomotives built by Alstom in 1990 to 1994 for Nederlandse Spoorwegen, eighty-one in all, numbered 1701 to 1781. They are similar to but not equal to the Class 1600 and 1800: the 1700 series has updated and extended electronics, a newer safety system, ATB phase 4 instead of phase 3, and a different braking system, and the locomotives are fitted with monomotor bogies. The most visible difference is the automatic coupler on subseries 1701 to 1728, which were used with NS DD-AR double-decker coaches in push-pull sets and treated as an electric multiple unit. Many of the remaining 1729 to 1781 have been converted for push-pull sets with rebuilt ICRm coaches, some of which have been rebuilt with a driver's cab. In 2010 a few were taken out of service for lack of work, number 1735 was scrapped after a fire at Venlo in 2000, and in 2018 locomotives 1772, 1775 and 1781 were sold to Railpromo.