OREANDA-NEWS. The 2TE25A Vityaz pilot Russian main line diesel locomotive with an induction motor drive manufactured by the Bryansk Engineering Plant (BMZ) has been sent for preliminary tests to The All-Russian R&D and Design Technology Institute (VNIKTI) in Kolomna.

Nikolay Fedyaev, the BMZ deputy chief designer for diesel locomotive construction said the tests will be focused on bogies.

According to the press service of Transmashholding, Vityaz is the first locomotive with agnathous bogie with pairs of drivers radial array and motor-step rolling bearings. The feature enables the wheel band and bearing unit maintenance-free run of one million kilometers. The bogie frame will be fitted with special gauges providing real-time monitoring of the load distribution. That will present detailed load information to be compared with design data.

The Kolomna tests are due to last for two months. Upon finishing the tests the locomotive will undergo exploitation tests comprising a run of at least five thousand kilometers.

The 2TE25A Vityaz main line electric locomotive with an induction motor drive and the 2TE25K Peresvet (featuring commutator motors) will lay the basis for the Russian main line diesel locomotive production. As of now, this level locomotives are not mass-produced in this country. The plant that used to provide main line diesel locomotives to the USSR railways is in Ukraine.

The 2TE25A features a number of world-level engineering solutions making it quite competitive. Besides the induction motor drive and the new bogie the locomotive is fitted with an electronic fuel injection system and blow-by compressor, a microprocessor control and diagnostics system. In order to improve the locomotive crew working conditions the driver's cab is fitted with an independent climate control device.