April 19, 2014. Ural Locomotives Plant keeps working on a power-assisted section for its GRANIT 2ES10 electric locomotive. The introduction of a new section will increase the efficiency of cargo vehicles in the mountainous sections of Russian Railways, the company’s press service reports.

The plant started making the first power-assisted section in December 2013. Since then, the Design & Research Department and the Preproduction Engineering Department of Ural Locomotives started preparing the design and technological documentation. As soon as February 2014, the body frame for the section was built. Experts are currently working on the final stage – the final assembly of the section. The assembly, the start-up and commissioning, and the plant trials and testing are supposed to be completed by the end of May 2014. After that, the 2ES10 loco with the added power-assisted section will undergo certification testing; upon the issue of the compliance certificate, the loco will be sent to the customer for routine tests.

‘The efficiency of cargo transportation remains one of the key issues. The power-assisted section is designed to raise the loco’s capacity to 13.2 megawatt, which will make it possible to use loaded trains weighing up to 9,000 kg without having to split them at break-up stations. This will cut down on the delivery time and on the prime cost of a shipment,’ says Director-General of Ural Locomotives Alexander Saltayev.