Ural Locomotives Approves 50-Unit Orlet for Russian Railways

VERKHNYAYA PYSHMA, RUSSIA – Ural Locomotives, part of the Sinara–Transport Machines (STM) holding, obtained acceptance commission approval for the 2ES11 Orlet AC electric freight locomotive in mid-2026, greenlighting production of an initial 50-unit series. The commission, comprising Russian Railways (RZD) representatives, research institutes, and equipment suppliers, confirmed compliance with all technical and safety requirements after tests conducted between December 2025 and June 2026.

What Are the Technical Specifications?

The 2ES11 Orlet delivers 42% more power than previous-generation Russian AC freight locomotives, hauling trains weighing up to 7,100 metric tons in its two-section configuration and up to 9,000 metric tons with an additional booster section. Built on the 2ES8 “Malahit” platform, it features a Russian-manufactured asynchronous traction system with redundant architecture, a modular design, and a new equipment cooling system targeting reduced maintenance downtime. The locomotive reached speeds of 120 km/h during trial runs and accumulated over 5,000 km before formal testing began. The exact continuous power output in megawatts was not disclosed by the manufacturer.

Key Technical Data

Where Does This Technology Stand in the Market?

The 2ES11 enters a global electric freight locomotive market in which asynchronous traction has been standard for over two decades. Siemens Mobility’s Vectron AC (high-power variant) delivers approximately 6,400 kW continuous output and operates at speeds up to 200 km/h across 20 European countries (Source: Siemens Mobility, 2024). Alstom’s Traxx Universal AC platform provides roughly 5,600–6,000 kW with modular configurations for cross-border European freight (Source: Alstom, 2024). China’s HXD2 twin-section electric locomotive, built by CRRC Datong, achieves 9,600 kW and hauls coal trains exceeding 10,000 tonnes on dedicated heavy-haul corridors (Source: CRRC, 2023). The Orlet’s 7,100-tonne rating places it in the upper-middle tier globally, though the absence of a disclosed megawatt figure limits direct power-density comparisons. The locomotive’s Russian-made asynchronous traction system reflects STM’s positioning within Russia’s import-substitution strategy, a factor largely absent from Western competitors’ value propositions. Per-unit pricing for the 50-unit series was not publicly available at time of publication.

Editor’s Analysis

The 2ES11 programme signals that STM is consolidating its domestic supply chain around the Malahit platform while targeting hauling capacity gains sufficient for Russia’s heaviest freight corridors. Certification under Eurasian Customs Union technical regulations—rather than solely RZD standards—suggests export ambitions toward former Soviet rail networks where Russian gauge and AC electrification predominate. This locomotive programme unfolds as global freight electrification accelerates: road freight in China reached 29.5% new-energy heavy truck penetration between January 2025 and May 2026, compressing diesel demand forecasts and underscoring the cross-modal shift toward electric traction across freight systems (Source: CleanTechnica/IEA, 2026).

FAQ

Q: What does “Orlet” mean and why was this name chosen?
A: “Orlet” is the regional name in the Ural Mountains for the pink semi-precious mineral rhodonite. Ural Locomotives continues a tradition of naming new locomotive models after minerals specific to the Ural region, following the 2ES8 “Malahit” (malachite) platform on which the Orlet is based.

Q: When will the 50 locomotives enter revenue service?
A: The manufacturer has not announced a delivery schedule. Production of the initial batch begins only after the locomotive obtains certification of compliance with Eurasian Customs Union technical regulations, a milestone not yet achieved at the time of the acceptance commission’s approval.

Q: Does the 2ES11 replace an existing locomotive class in the RZD fleet?
A: The manufacturer has not explicitly stated which fleet segment the Orlet targets, but its 42% power increase over previous AC generations—and its 7,100–9,000-tonne hauling envelope—positions it as a higher-capacity successor to classes such as the 2ES5K “Ermak” series, which have formed the backbone of RZD’s AC freight operations since the mid-2000s.