NS Class 1600
Class of Netherlands electric locomotives

The NS Class 1600 is a type of B′B′ electric locomotive built by Alstom between 1980 and 1983 based on the SNCF Class BB 7200, and in use by Nederlandse Spoorwegen. They were styled by the French industrial designer Paul Arzens.
The Class 1600 was ordered in 1978, after several types of locomotives were tested in the 1970s. One of those was the SNCF BB 7200, on which the 1600 is based. Forty-eight 1600s were delivered in 1980 followed by a further 10 between 1981 and 1983, the latter being fitted with push pull equipment for use with DDM-1 double deck carriages.
As a result of their delivery, the old Class 1000 and Class 1500 units were taken out of service.
Thanks to the electronic power control, these locomotives were not only the most economical but also the most powerful locomotives that Dutch Railways had.
01NS/Railion Class 1600
In 1999 the freight division of NS, NS Cargo, was sold to Deutsche Bahn became part of Railion as Railion Nederland. The locomotives that became the property of Railion kept their old number (1601-1637). No. 1637 was repainted red as an advertisement for the Dutch brewery Heineken and was repainted in NS yellow in 2004. In 2000, NS Reiziger acquired 1634 to 1637 from Railion.
Currently, Railion Nederland is looking to replace the Class 1600 locomotives with new multi-current locomotives type BR 189 from Germany. In early 2008 these started running into the Netherlands from Germany.
02NS Class 1800
The locomotives that went to NS-Reizigers (1638-1658) had their numbers raised by 200, thus keeping their number but now in the 1800 series. In later years 10 more of the 1600 locomotives were sold to NS-Reizigers and subsequently renumbered to the 1800 series. The 1800 series was now 1823, 1824 and 1826 to 1858. Retaining the last 2 digits of their number. No. 1838 was involved in a heavy but non-fatal train crash at Amsterdam Central Station in 2005 and due to the extensive damage later scrapped. In 2014 ten (1824, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1833, 1834, 1836 and 1837) were sold to Locon.
03Names
All the 1600s and 1800s carry names and crests of Dutch towns and cities.
- 1601t - Amsterdam
- 1602 - Schiphol
- 1603t - Zutphen †
- 1604 - Dordrecht
- 1605 - Breda †
- 1606a - Harderwijk
- 1607t - Vlissingen †
- 1608t - 's-Hertogenbosch †
- 1609a - Hoofddorp
- 1610sp - Hengelo †
- 1611 - Venlo
- 1612 - Goes
- 1613 - Roermond
- 1614 - Schiedam
- 1615 - Zandvoort
- 1616 - Oldenzaal
- 1617t - Assen †
- 1618t - Almelo
- 1619a - Maastricht
- 1620t - Arnhem †
- 1621a - Deventer
- 1622 - Haarlem †
- 1823t - Hilversum
- 1824t - Alkmaar
- 1625 - Sittard †
- 1826 - Meppel †
- 1827l - Gouda
- 1828t - Apeldoorn
- 1829t - Ede
- 1830t - Zwolle
- 1831l - Voorburg
- 1832HSL - Nijmegen
- 1833t - Bergen op Zoom
- 1834l - Lelystad
- 1835h - Enschede
- 1836l - Heerenveen
- 1837t - Amersfoort
- 1838 - Groningen †
- 1839t - Leiden †
- 1840t - Steenwijk
- 1841 - Almere †
- 1842t - Weert †
- 1843t - Heerlen †
- 1844t - Roosendaal †
- 1845t - Middelburg †
- 1846t - Leeuwarden †
- 1847t - Delft †
- 1848t - Valkenburg †
- 1849t - Oss †
- 1850t - The Hague †
- 1851t - Tilburg †
- 1852 - Utrecht †
- 1853t - Den Helder †
- 1854t - Geleen †
- 1855t - Eindhoven †
- 1856m - Hoogeveen
- 1857t - Rotterdam †
- 1858t - Zaandam †
- a = These engines have been sold to Husa Transportation - Railway Services Nederland BV.
- l = These engines have been sold to Locon Benelux.
- h = This engine is on hire to the Bentheimer Eisenbahn AG.
- sp = Engine sold for spare parts to Shunter (maintenance company).
- t = These engines have been taken out of service and are not expected to return in service in the near future.
- † = These engines have been scrapped, due to an accident or because they were taken out of service.
- m = This engine is now part of the Railway Collection from the Railway Museum in Utrecht.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “NS Class 1600”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Railion 1612 (1600 Class).jpg by Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0
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