DE1 is a Ukrainian series of
DC electriclocomotives. It is the first electric locomotive developed by Ukraine since the end of the
Soviet Union.[1] The DE1 was produced for service in the
Near-Dnieper and the
Donets Basin regional divisions of the
Ukrainian Railways. All of them were produced by the
Dnepropetrovsk research-and-production association for electric locomotive engineering.[2]
History
By the middle of the 1990s there was a need to replace the ageing
VL8 locomotives, which had stopped operating in Russia were only being used by that point on the Near-Dnieper and Donets territorial railways in southeastern Ukraine. The Dnepropetrovsk electric locomotive factory was tasked with developing a new electric locomotive.[2]
The first two units produced, numbered DE1-001 (made in 1995) and DE1-002 (in 1997), became test prototypes that were used to further develop the design. They were both retired in 2007 and 2013, respectively. By 2008, a total of 40 units of the DE1 were produced.[2]
At least two of them may have been captured by the
Donetsk People's Republic since the
War in Donbass. The original two prototype units have been completely taken out of service, while several others appear to be currently out of order but still in service. All of them were based out of the
Lyman or
Dnepropetrovsk depots. Their status since the
Russian invasion of Ukraine is unknown.[3]