In recent days, there has been a wide range of rain and snow in Hubei, Henan and other places on the mainland, especially the freezing rain that swept Hubei, which has had a great impact on the railway operation in the Spring Festival. Heavy snow and freezing rain caused the railway catenary (transmission line) to be covered with ice, and the originally fast-moving high-speed rail and EMU trains could not take power normally, and many trains in many places were forced to reduce speed and stop operation.
Just when the returnees were anxious about when they would be able to arrive home for the Chinese New Year, the diesel locomotive (internal combustion engine locomotive), which does not rely on electricity, suddenly "stepped forward" and pulled the Fuxing and the EMU to run again in the snowstorm.
At present, on social platforms such as Douyin and video accounts, short videos of diesel locomotives pulling high-speed railways and bullet trains fighting the wind and snow are constantly swiping the screen, "At the critical moment, you have to rely on the old generation", "The EMU calls the grandfather of internal combustion", "Grandpa Tai went out of the mountain and held the hand of the Fuxing", "In the end, it was the grandfather of internal combustion who resisted everything...... All kinds of subtitles and funny jokes are flying all over the sky. "The grandfather of internal combustion fights" and other related topics have exploded on the whole network.
The upstream news combing platform left a message and found that in the cognition of many netizens, diesel locomotives, as an old antique of the last century, should have been eliminated long ago. In fact, this is a misunderstanding: although the "grandfather" of diesel locomotives is old, he has always been on the job and has not retired, and the "employment area" is still very wide, and even constantly upgrading to "fight monsters", and various high-tech and new energy diesel locomotives are still emerging. Let's take a look.
Delusion 1: It has long been eliminated, and even if there is, there is not much left
There are nearly 8,000 units, accounting for more than 1/3 of the country's railway locomotives
With the large-scale construction of high-speed railways and bullet train lines in mainland China in recent years, electrified railways full of "black technology" have long become the mainstream. According to the Beijing Daily client, the "2022 Statistical Bulletin on the Development of the Transportation Industry" shows that as of 2022, the national railway operating mileage is 155,000 kilometers, of which 42,000 kilometers are high-speed rail, and the railway electrification rate is 73.8% - most of the trains running on the railway, especially passenger trains, have basically been replaced by electric locomotives and rely on power supply from the power grid. The lights, water heaters, and toilet flushes in the car are all powered by electricity.
But on the mainland, the proportion of diesel locomotives is not small. According to the data of the National Railway Administration, as of 2020, the number of railway locomotives in the country was 21,000, of which 7,700 were diesel locomotives, accounting for 36.5%, more than one-third. Diesel locomotives use the internal combustion engine as the driving force, and most of them rely on diesel combustion to provide power, and can drive without external power supply, which can play an important role in extreme weather conditions.
Delusion 2: It's rare, and this time it suddenly pops up en masse
As the main force of railway emergency rescue, it has been very busy
Many netizens were a little puzzled in the video message: I rarely see diesel locomotives, why did they suddenly appear this time, and there are so many of them?
Public reports show that as the main force of railway emergency rescue, diesel locomotives have always been busy, and they have been running on the front line of rescue, but passengers rarely see it.
has been preparing for the Spring Festival. According to the official account of China Railway, on February 6, in response to sudden failures such as the suspension of railway trains caused by freezing rain in Hubei, the locomotive maintenance department of China Railway Wuhan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. has arranged 48 diesel locomotives to be on standby at any time to do a good job of emergency traction.
According to the People's Railway News, since January 31 this year, Shandong has ushered in a wide range of rain and snow and strong cooling weather. China Railway Jinan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. launched an emergency response and has arranged 45 emergency hot standby diesel locomotives (hot standby locomotives are substitute locomotives for emergencies, requiring 24-hour standby to ensure that they are out of the section within 15 minutes), 9 emergency diesel hot standby locomotives and 128 emergency generator sets for high-speed railways, and made every effort to make emergency preparations for snow removal. The WeChat public account of Liuzhou Locomotive Depot also released a message saying that since the Spring Festival, the cold wave in Liuzhou has been superimposed on the rain, and the low temperature has continued. In order to prevent the oil and water pipelines of diesel locomotives from freezing, when the temperature is lower than 8 °C, the Liuzhou maintenance workshop starts the locomotive twice a day at intervals to "warm up and drive away the cold" for the locomotive. Chengdu Locomotive Depot previously reported that the diesel locomotive should be refueled before the holiday to ensure the stable quality of the diesel locomotive at each hot standby point during the Spring Festival.
I've been battling the wind and snow. On November 19, 2020, heavy snowfall fell in Northeast China, and some railway power grids could not supply power normally, so the railway department had to call diesel locomotives to rescue the road. At that time, a video was circulated on social platforms, in which the attendant explained to passengers on the stopped train: "Our car is pulled by an electric car, and everyone has seen the metal mesh outside, it is all frozen, and now it is insulated and there is no electricity." Not only our one car, but hundreds of trains in Heijiliao are lying on the line. According to the Harbin New Evening News, the train is the K567 train from Dongguan to Qiqihar. In the end, the train was dragged by a diesel locomotive to Changchun, and then replaced with an electric locomotive to Qiqihar.
There is no shortage of positions to fight typhoons. According to China News Network, on September 15, 2016, super typhoon "Meranti" made landfall on the coast of Xiamen, Fujian Province. The Nanchang Railway Bureau reported that due to the interruption of railway power supply, the fast and advanced EMU "lying in the nest" could not enter and leave Xiamen Island. The online pictures show that the diesel locomotive is running with the EMU in tow, and the front of the locomotive is connected, which is called "affectionate kiss" by netizens, which has become one of the hot topics on the Internet that day.
Delusion 3: An antique from a hundred years ago has no future
High-tech, new energy diesel locomotives are constantly emerging
In the minds of many people, diesel locomotives, as antiques of the last century, belong to the obsolete products of the times, and sooner or later they will enter the museum. In fact, in recent years, the mainland has been carrying out scientific and technological research and innovation on diesel locomotives, and various high-tech and new energy diesel locomotives are constantly emerging.
According to Changzhou Daily and Changzhou Net, on January 12 this year, the first batch of 15 "revival" diesel locomotives FXN5C in the country rolled off the assembly line in Changzhou CRRC Qishuyan Locomotive Co., Ltd. and delivered to the Taiyuan Locomotive Depot of Daqin Railway Co., Ltd. Following the delivery and operation of the first batch of "Harmony" diesel locomotives in 2008, after 16 years, China's railway freight diesel locomotives ushered in a "revival".
"The fuel consumption of this locomotive is 198 g/kWh, which can save 176,000 liters of fuel per year, save about 1.26 million yuan in fuel costs, and reduce carbon emissions by 462.9 tons compared with Dongfeng 8B diesel locomotives that undertake the same freight volume. Vehicle designer Zhao Ning said. In 2018, the research and development of the "Fuxing" diesel locomotive FXN5C was launched, positioning it as the main model of national railway trunk freight in the future. In October 2023, the locomotive obtained the railway locomotive type certificate and manufacturing license issued by the State Railway Administration, and has the qualification for mass production. Qin Hui, general manager of CRRC Qishuyan Company, said, "In the next 10 years, this car will become the main model of diesel locomotives for freight transportation in the mainland." ”
According to Zibo Daily, on July 6, 2023, China's first new energy locomotive officially settled in Chinalco Shandong Logistics. This is the first renovated six-axle diesel locomotive in China, and it is also a model for promoting green logistics, energy conservation and emission reduction. It is understood that the Dongfeng No. 5 diesel locomotive has been in service for more than 20 years, and now it has a new look and has become a lithium battery new energy locomotive. It is estimated that traditional diesel locomotives can continue to be used for at least 15 to 20 years after being transformed into new energy locomotives. The electricity cost of a new energy locomotive is 20% to 30% of the original diesel oil, which can save more than 100 tons of diesel every year and greatly reduce carbon emissions.
Delusion 4: Nothing but emergency rescue
The "employment scope" is very wide, and he is an all-rounder
Many people believe that today's diesel locomotives are only used as an emergency reserve, and only come into play when the power system fails due to freezing rain and snow. In fact, in addition to emergency rescue, the diesel locomotive on the continental railway is a "generalist" and has a wide range of uses.
Marshalling shunting and small operation. It is mainly used in the shunting yard for train marshalling, dismantling operations and shunting in the station section, or doubles as a short-distance small operation traction operation. According to the People's Railway News, on November 25, 2022, Wu Yan, deputy section chief of the Xichang Locomotive Depot of China Railway Chengdu Bureau Group Co., Ltd., said that the newly attached Harmony N5B diesel locomotives have all been put in place. It is understood that the Harmony N5B diesel locomotive is a shunting diesel locomotive suitable for the marshalling, shunting and small operation of large and medium-sized marshalling stations, and is the main shunting model for the operation of large and medium-sized marshalling stations.
Non-electrified trunk rail transport. As of 2022, the operating mileage of mainland railways is 155,000 kilometers, and the railway electrification rate is 73.8%. Then, the remaining tens of thousands of kilometers of non-electrified railway trunk freight passenger transportation is still diesel locomotives. According to CCTV, in July 2019, five HXN3 high-prototype diesel locomotives entered the Golmud Locomotive Depot, marking that the locomotive was fully put into passenger and freight transportation in the Gela section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (Golmud to Lhasa). According to Guangming Daily, in May 2022, the reporter learned from the Tibet Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission that the state plans to start the electrification of the Gela section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in June of that year, with a total construction period of 3 years.
Railway construction, track testing. This one is more common. At the beginning of December 2023, a video of "Dongfeng 11 diesel locomotive traction Fuxing for road test" suddenly became popular on the Internet and was also on the hot search. In the video, a diesel locomotive is pulling the Fuxing train and gliding on the newly built railway tracks. Netizens wrote: "Chinese-style romance and inheritance!" "It's like a grandfather taking his grandson for a walk", "Take you to familiarize yourself with the route today, and you will have to go by yourself in the future".
Upstream news comprehensive CCTV network, Chinanews.com, People's Railway News, Beijing Daily, Changzhou Daily, Zibo Daily, etc