Siemens ES 64 P (Eurosprinter)

Updated: August 2026 – Some vehicles matter not because of what they hauled, but because of what became of them. The Siemens ES 64 P is one of those: a single locomotive, built in 1992, from which a whole family of European electric locomotives emerged. This page explains the code, the number and the family relationships.

What is the Siemens ES 64 P?

The ES 64 P is the prototype of the Eurosprinter family, built in 1992 by Siemens together with Krauss-Maffei. Exactly one locomotive was produced, carrying the running number 127 001. It has four axles in the Bo’Bo’ wheel arrangement and is designed for a continuous rating of around 6,400 kW.

Its purpose was not transport but proof: a modern three-phase AC concept was meant to show that locomotives for different countries, electrification systems and types of service could be derived from a single basic design. How far that went can be seen on the Iberian Peninsula: at Madrid Puerta de Atocha, descendants of the same basic design are in service. That is exactly what happened afterwards – and that’s why this one vehicle stands at the start of one of Europe’s most successful locomotive families.

Reading the type code

The designation looks technical, but it can be decoded completely. Once you’ve taken it apart, you understand half of the Siemens product range.

How to match such manufacturer designations with running numbers in the field is described in the guide to identifying classes.

From prototype to family

The real value of this loco lies in its descendants. The overview below shows how, over the years, a single basic design developed into a European modular system.

Manufacturer designation	Configuration	Electrification systems	German or Austrian class
ES 64 P	Prototype	one	127 001
ES 64 F	Freight locomotive	one	Class 152
ES 64 F4	Freight locomotive	four	Class 189
ES 64 U2	Universal locomotive	two	Class 182, ÖBB 1016 and 1116
ES 64 U4	Universal locomotive	four	ÖBB 1216

You’ll find the production vehicles under Siemens ES64F (Class 152), Class 189 and Class 182. The family was later superseded by the Siemens Vectron, which continues the same basic idea with a larger range of variants.

Why prototypes are interesting for spotters

A prototype is the opposite of a production loco. There’s no sister locomotive, no fixed diagram, no reliable probability. If you want to see such a machine, you need events rather than timetables: rolling-stock shows, works anniversaries, exhibitions, delivery runs.

At the same time, prototypes are technically revealing. They show solutions that later made it into production – and ones that were discarded. Details of the front design, the roof equipment or the layout of the side walls often differ visibly from the later production vehicles. It’s precisely these differences that make a photo valuable.

For documentation this leads to a clear recommendation: don’t just photograph the overall view, but deliberately capture the areas where prototype and production series differ. And always record the date – with one-off vehicles, the point in time is often the only piece of information that makes a sighting classifiable later at all.

Spotting and photography in practice

To make sure such rare shots can still be found later, a cleanly structured photo archive and a consistently kept sightings log are well worth it.

What platform thinking changed for railway operations

The Eurosprinter stands at the start of a development that fundamentally changed the picture on Europe’s railways. Before it, the rule was: a state railway describes what it needs, and industry builds it. The result was national classes that hardly ever crossed a border, because the electrification system, train protection and regulations were different in each country.

The platform idea turned that around. The manufacturer develops a basic design at its own risk and offers it in variants. Whoever buys or leases chooses: electrification system, top speed, train protection packages, national approvals. That lowers costs, shortens delivery times – and means that the same loco runs in several countries under different names.

For spotters this has two consequences. The good one: once you recognise a platform, you recognise it everywhere. A Eurosprinter front remains a Eurosprinter front, whether in Germany, Austria or elsewhere. At Barcelona Sants you can check this against Spanish members of the family. The less good one: the class designation loses meaning, because externally identical machines belong to different classes and are assigned to different keepers. At Porto Campanhã the same basic design carries a completely different class number again.

This leads to a way of working that applies to all modern electric locos. First identify the family by its shape – that’s quick and works from a long way off. Then identify the class by the running number. And finally document the current state: vehicle keeper marking, livery, date. Only the first level is stable; the second changes rarely, the third constantly.

The prototype itself plays a special role in this system. It is the only one of its kind, belongs to no series and therefore can’t be sorted into the usual grid. That’s exactly what makes it so useful for classification: it shows where a family comes from – and how much has changed since it began.

Common mix-ups

Conclusion

The ES 64 P isn’t a vehicle you plan to see, but one you should understand. It explains why a Taurus is called 182 in Germany, why a freight loco carries 189, and why all these machines resemble each other. Once you’ve sorted out the family, you’ll save yourself a lot of memorising when identifying locos in future.