Kraków 2025-02-27

Post-war electrification in PKP.

In Poland, the situation after World War II was bad. Poland was taken over by communists and dependent on Moscow. It was difficult to rebuild the Polish Railway Industry, and the reconstruction of the Warsaw Railway Junction in particular was slow.

A statement by one of the Polish communists has been preserved, which concerned the electrification of the railway: “Despite the enormous successes and superiority of Soviet electrification technologies, our big brother, for now, cannot help in the reconstruction of the Warsaw railway junction, because he has a lot to do at home.” This position of Moscow allowed Poland to establish cooperation with the UK and Sweden.

After World War II, only one electric locomotive, EL.106 (EP01), remained in Poland, which worked and was withdrawn in 1964, and scrapped at MD Łódź Olechów in 1968. And before World War II we had 10 electric locomotives (EL.100, EL.200), not counting EZTs.

The period of World War II completely destroyed the electric traction equipment of WWK (Warsaw Railway Junction). A large part was also taken away by the occupiers; mainly passenger rolling stock and locomotives. Already on January 25, 1945, the reconstruction of the traction network began. The electric locomotive shed at Grochów station and at Warszawa Wschodnia station were rebuilt. Traffic was restored gradually. On September 14, 1948, electric trains returned to the Warszawa Wschodnia – Mińsk Mazowiecki route: electric locomotives and EZTs. Decisions were made to electrify the main railway lines of the country.

The first rebuilt, electrified route was the Warsaw East – Otwock section. The first test train ran along this route on July 14, 1946. In April 1947, agreements were concluded with Sweden for the supply of electrical components for the railway and EZTs and electric locomotives. In 1948, the renovation and electrification of the Warsaw – Katowice route began. Many stations on the route had to be rebuilt. The plan also included the electrification of the Koluszki – Łódź branch line and the Wejherowo – Pruszcz line. On June 3, 1956, the electrified route from Warsaw to Łazy near Zawiercie was put into service, with a total length of 281 km. The route led through: Skierniewice – Koluszki – Piotrków Trybunalski – Częstochowa – Zawiercie. In 1957, electric trains were already reaching Katowice and Gliwice. In 1959, the Silesia – Kraków route was electrified, through: Szczakowa – Trzebinia – Kraków – Nowa Huta. In 1964, the Kraków – Rzeszów route was electrified. In 1961, Poland already had about 1,200 km of electrified routes. This was 25% of the then assumptions. 

At that time, the discussion about the type of electric traction began again. After a substantive discussion, it was decided to stick with the pre-war 3 kV DC system. Reconstruction to 25 kV 50 Hz current was then an economic nonsense. The contribution of the pre-war pioneers of PKP electrification, who carried out a lot of study and development work, also in the field of nomenclature and technical regulations, was appreciated. The first to be electrified in 1957 was the Warsaw – Silesia line, in 1959, the Silesia – Kraków line, and in 1964, the Kraków – Rzeszów line.

Electric locomotive EP02.

In Poland, work began on the Polish electric locomotive EP02, which took several years to complete. 8 EP02 locomotives were put into service.

In 1949, industrial cooperation with England was renewed and an agreement was signed with the “Contractors Committee for the Electrification of Polish Railways” representing the English industry. A contract was concluded for the delivery of MV 185 R traction motors and other electrical equipment. These were devices of the class used before the war in the EP01 electric locomotive and in the E91 EZT trains.

In 1951, documentation for the new EP02 locomotive was developed at the Central Design Office of the Railway Rolling Stock Industry in Poznań. The design included many modern design solutions that were not available in the interwar period. The body and side frame construction has been changed compared to its predecessors. The sheets were joined by welding instead of riveting. Headframes were installed, and on them the traction element and bumpers. The body outline is more streamlined. The bogies have a lighter, welded construction with a shorter wheelbase, which ensured better cooperation with the track. The wheel sets were supported on double-row rolling bearings.

Production was undertaken at the PaFaWag plant in Wrocław, and the factory designation was type 1E, which was later changed to E110. The electrical equipment was purchased in England. The first EP02 locomotive was built in August 1953. The locomotive was sent for tests on electrified sections around Warsaw. The first six locomotives were entered into PKP’s inventory in 1954, the seventh copy was introduced into service in 1956, and the last, eighth in 1957. The locomotives had factory designations from E110 to E117. The designation in PKP was the E02 series, and in 1960, it was changed to the EP02 series. The locomotive numbers were assigned from EP02-01 to EP02-08. The first locomotives of the EP02 series began service in the Warszawa Zachodnia locomotive shed in Ochota and began servicing trains on the Warsaw – Katowice, Warsaw – Łódź, Łódź – Gliwice, Warsaw – Kutno routes. In 1958, the locomotives were transferred to the Łódź Olechów locomotive shed. In 1969, the locomotives were transferred to the Dębica locomotive shed in DOKP Kraków. The locomotives serviced passenger trains on the Kraków – Przemyśl route. During operation, the EP02 locomotives were modernized, adapting them to electric heating of the wagon sets. In 1959, the “Czuwak” locomotives were fitted, and in the 1960s, SHP devices were installed.

Currently (2024) three locomotives have been preserved: EP02-02 in Warsaw, EP02-07 in Chabówka, EP02-08 in the locomotive shed in Kraków Prokocim.

Electric locomotive EP03.

It was decided to buy electric locomotives in Sweden. It was the ASEA E150 locomotive, which in Poland received the designation E150, then E03, and finally (in 1959) EP03. In 1951, eight locomotives were purchased, which were designated from EP03-01 to EP03-08. Since 1951, the locomotives serviced trains in the Warsaw node, on electrified routes. Around 1958, the locomotives were moved to the Łódź node. EU03 locomotives could pull passenger trains weighing up to 550 tons. The locomotives were used until 1970. EU03 locomotives were withdrawn from service in the period 1971–1974.

Electric locomotive EU04.

LEW EU04 electric locomotives from a factory in the GDR. In parallel, under pressure from Moscow, cooperation was established with the GDR industry. It was not a bad choice, because the Germans already had experience in electrification with single-phase alternating current, with a voltage of 15 kV and a frequency of 16⅔ Hz. In 1950, talks were initiated with representatives of the LEW Lokomotivbau – Elektrotechnische Werke and Hans Beimler Hennigsdorf plants in Hennigsdorf, regarding the purchase of electric locomotives and electric multiple units. The problem was that in Poland the standard was and is 3 kV DC electricity. This was a complete novelty for the Germans. In the period 1952 – 1954, the Germans developed a prototype locomotive. Initially, the electric locomotive received the designation of the E200 series. However, only the first two locomotives had this designation; E201 and E202. Then the designation of the series was changed to E04 (numbers from E04-1 to E04-25). 25 locomotives were purchased. Deliveries to PKP lasted until 1960. According to the plan, the E04 locomotives were directed to the Warsaw – Gliwice route. The locomotives pulled both freight and passenger trains. Therefore, the designation U – universal, was absolutely correct. The EU04 locomotive pulled a 650 ton passenger train at a speed of 110 km/h and a 2,000 ton freight train at a speed of 70 km/h. The locomotives were assigned to the Warszawa Zachodnia locomotive depot, as well as the Łazy and Kraków Prokocim locomotive depots. The EU04 locomotives were considered modern, but they also had drawbacks. The most serious was the cracking of the locomotive frame. Already in 1965, the first EU04 was withdrawn from service, and in 1969, four more locomotives. In March 1983, the last copies were crossed out of the inventory. The last preserved EU04-24 locomotive is located in the Museum in Jaworzyna Śląska. In 2012, the locomotive received a new paint job. The EU04 locomotive has many common elements with the E05 (EU20) locomotive, which is a six-axle locomotive.

Electric locomotive EU20.

Locomotives of the E05/EU20 series – In the period 1955-1958, 34 units of the E05 series locomotives were delivered to PKP. Then the series designation was changed to EU20. The locomotive body is similar to the E04 locomotive, made of steel, received partially streamlined shapes and is fully welded. Both locomotives (EU04, EU20) have an identical arrangement of windows, ventilation grilles, entrance doors, and bottom sheet metal riffling. The locomotives differ in length; E04 – 16.32 m, EU20 – 18.50 m. Both locomotives differ in the number of axles and the number of driving motors. GBM 530 traction motors were used, each with a continuous power of 420 kW and an hourly power of 530 kW. The electrical equipment is also similar. The converters and compressors were the same. The main circuit was protected by a high-speed switch with a pneumatic drive. The timing was carried out by means of a ball bearing shaft. The locomotives were equipped with an electric train heating circuit and passive deadman devices. The E05 series locomotive had universal characteristics, which allowed these locomotives to be used in passenger traffic. The E05 series electric locomotives began service in the Warszawa Zachodnia locomotive shed in Ochota. The locomotives were directed to freight trains on the Warsaw-Silesia route. The locomotives serviced trains with hard coal transports. The locomotives were never coupled because they did not have multiple control. In the mid-1960s, all the locomotives were gathered in the Piotrków Trybunalski locomotive shed, where, together with new 3E/ET21 series locomotives, they were used in freight traffic on the Łazy-Warsaw route. The E05/EU20 series ended its operation in the period 1979-1981. The E05/EU20 series locomotives were quite unreliable vehicles. Starting resistor failures were common, as they did not have additional cooling, as in other locomotives.

Electric locomotive ET21.

ET21 is the first Polish electric freight locomotive, which was mass-produced in the “PaFaWag” factory in Wrocław, in the amount of 726 units. In 1955, in Poznań, based on the experience gained, an electric locomotive adapted to pull heavy freight trains was developed. The product was marked PaFaWag 3E, and subsequent versions 3E/1, 3E/1M. In PKP, the locomotive was marked ET21.

ET21 is a standard-gauge electric locomotive with high tractive force. The locomotive was designed in 1957, in the Central Design Office of Railway Rolling Stock in Poznań. The electric part of the locomotive was modeled on the Russian design WŁ22M. The locomotive has a Co’Co’ axle arrangement. Each axle is powered by one electric motor. Electric motors of the LKa635 or LKb635 type were used, which were manufactured in Poland at the “Dolmel” plant. The electric motor’s gear ratio is 85:24. The remaining electrical components were also manufactured at the “Dolmel” plant. The locomotive has bogies with fork-type wheel set guidance, which was considered an outdated solution at the time of design, but acceptable.

The ET21 locomotives proved successful, low-failure and easy to operate. To this day (2025), the ET21 locomotives are used by private carriers.

Written by Karol Placha Hetman