SNCF Class BB 15000

The SNCF Class BB 15000 is a class of 25 kV 50 Hz electric locomotives built by Alstom and MTE between 1971 and 1978. SNCF placed an initial order for five locomotives in 1968 as part of a new series of locomotives using thyristor technology, later known as the Nez Cassés or Broken Noses for their cab styling by Paul Arzens, and the class reached 65 locomotives. The first five arrived in 1971 in the overall green Maurienne livery and the rest followed between 1973 and 1978 in the TEE-Arzens livery. They became the most important locomotives on the northern and northeastern network, where they hauled nearly all the principal passenger trains, including the Trans Europ Express services Kléber and Stanislas. The partial opening of the LGV Est in 2007 ended locomotive hauled intercity trains between Paris and the northeast, but the class was not withdrawn, and the remaining 60 locomotives were divided over three sectors.