South African Class 22E

The Transnet Freight Rail Class 22E of 2015 is a South African dual-voltage six-axle electric locomotive for 3 kV DC and 25 kV AC lines. The first, number 22-002, was rolled out by the CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Company in China on 10 April 2015. The first forty were built in China by Zhuzhou, a subsidiary of the China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation (CSR), and the rest of the order of 359 locomotives is built locally at the Koedoespoort shops of Transnet Engineering in Pretoria. The class forms part of the largest locomotive supply contract in South African history, 1,064 locomotives from four manufacturers, of which CSR Zhuzhou has the Class 22E share. It looks much like the Classes 20E and 21E but is longer, with a Co-Co wheel arrangement and a different interior layout, and has a single cab and a nominal rating of 4,600 kilowatts. It is the second modern Co-Co electric design to join the Transnet fleet after the heavy-duty Class 15E. The class number is new: a heavier Class 22 2-10-4 steam locomotive was proposed in the 1930s but never built.