The Russian Railways OJSC received the first mainline electric locomotive produced by the Ural Locomotives LLC, which is planned to be used on the section of St. Petersburg – Babaevo – Ust-Luga of the Oktyabrskaya Railway.

The new electric locomotive “Malachite” is rightfully the flagship among the new generation of freight locomotives: heavy-duty, reliable and economical, incorporating the most modern technical solutions. The 3ES8 loco is equipped with a Russian-made asynchronous traction drive, which is in many ways superior to its foreign analogues.

The 2ES8 and 3ES8 “Malachite” electric locomotives are designed to provide traction for the freight trains on 1520-mm gauge railways, electrified with direct current voltage of 3 kV, in temperate and cold climates. In terms of power, they are slightly inferior to the 2ES10 and 3ES10 “Granit” electric locomotives, having a total continuous power of traction electric motors of 8 and 12 kW versus 8.4 and 12.6 kW, respectively. The 3ES8 electric locomotive in a threesection layout is designed to drive freight trains weighing 7100 tons and up to 1 kilometer long in mountainous terrain. The designated service life of the electric locomotive is 40 years.

Based on the design of the 2ES8/3ES8 “Malachite” electric locomotive, the Sinara Group plans to develop and subsequently begin production of a new line of electric locomotives with an asynchronous traction drive, differing in traction and speed characteristics, weight and voltage of overhead catenary system. It is planned to produce a similar electric locomotive for 25-kV 50-Hz AC lines and a two-system electric locomotive for 3 DC and 25 kV AC lines, as well as a two-system lightweight accelerated freight electric locomotive for driving container trains with a design speed of 140 km/h and a reduced axle load of 23 tf.

The 2ES8 electric locomotive consists of two identical head sections with control cabins, and the 3ES8 electric locomotive consists of two head sections and one intermediate booster section with no cabin. Each section has a complete set of equipment, with the exception of the driver’s cabin at the intermediate section, which makes independent operation of a single head section possible, provided that it can be turned around at the end stations. It is possible to operate two coupled electric locomotives using a system of multiple units, where they are coupled by the frontal sides of opposite sections.

The electric locomotive uses an all-supporting body (instead of a body with a main frame), shortened by 1 meter as compared to its predecessors; it has a new shape of the frontal part of the driver’s cabin with an anti-shock crash system, similar to the “Lastochka” electric trains, and a protruding buffer beam; a new control panel in the driver’s cabin, adapted for one person driving of the train; new software with a self-learning capability and automatic train driving functions.

The first 3ES8 “Malachite” electric locomotive was presented at the exhibition “PRO//Motion.Expo” in St. Petersburg in August 2023.