Kraków 2021-05-12
Electric locomotives EP03.
After the Second World War, the reconstruction of the destroyed Warsaw railway junction began. It was also decided to renew the railway routes electrified before the war, especially the cross-city line. In Poland, only one electric locomotive survived the war and it was damaged. It was the EP01 locomotive No. E106. The locomotive was rebuilt in a repair plant in Lubań Śląski. From 1947, the EP01 locomotive No. E106 ran trains from Warsaw to Mińsk Mazowiecki.
In Poland, work began on the Polish electric locomotive EP02, which took several years to develop. Therefore, 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, designated EP03-01 to EP03-08, were purchased.
From 1951, locomotives served trains in the Warsaw junction, on electrified routes. Around 1958, the locomotives were moved to the Łódź junction. EU03 locomotives could drive passenger trains weighing up to 550 tons. The locomotives were operated until 1970. EU03 locomotives were removed from the state in the period 1971-1974.
Electric locomotive EP03-01.
The first EP03-01 locomotive was handed over as a historic exhibit for the Railway Museum in Warsaw. In 1992, it was transferred to Chabówka, to the newly created open-air museum. In 1997, the EP03-01 locomotive was brought back into service. The renovation was carried out at ZNTK in Mińsk Mazowiecki. In order to bring the locomotive back into service, parts from the locomotive ET22 and EMU EN57 were used. The locomotive is used for retro trains.
The second surviving electric locomotive EP03-08 is a historic exhibit in the Skierniewice engine house.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman