Vectrons for Egypt

The production of the first type of Vectron for a non-European customer is proceeding relatively inconspicuously. It is a batch of 41 Class 1192 machines for freight transport in Egypt, where Siemens will deliver them together with 41 eight-car Velaros and 94 four-car Desiro HC regional EMU as part of a megacontract for the construction of a completely new electrified railway system in that country.

In addition to being the first Vectron deliveries outside of European tracks, these 4,800 kW locomotives also represent other firsts for the Vectron family:
- with a maximum speed of 120 km/h, it is the slowest Vectron version so far,
- it also represents the second application of automatic couplings on Vectrons (if we exclude the current tests with DAC on two locomotives); the first case was the Class Sr3 broad gauge Vectrons with SA3 couplings for VR and subsequently for Fenniarail,
- and this is also only the second Vectron type with traction equipment only for 25 kV 50 Hz, again after the Finnish variant.

The first two Egyptian Vectrons left the München works in early 2024 and were expected to be sent to Egypt by the end of the same year, in the meantime batch production had already started in full swing. However, since (not only) these locomotives have nowhere to be tested in Egypt, they are temporarily stored in Germany, in the ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt (AMEH) steelworks, south of Frankfurt an der Oder.

In the photo from 20 March 2025, locomotives 91 90 1192 012-2 EG-NAT (National Authority for Tunnels, which is under the Egyptian Ministry of Transport) and 1192 014, 011 and 013 are being shown. The convoy with a Class 111 locomotive and a barrier wagon from RailAdventure was captured behind the Treuchtlingen station on the way to Würzburg.

On the other hand, other, older European locomotives are arriving in Egypt, as shown in the second photo from 7 September 2024 taken in the port of Alexandria. In this case, the locomotives were part of a shipment of construction machinery from Salcef Group for the construction of approximately 300 km of double-track line in the Alexandria - Marsa Matrouh section.