To modernize its ageing fleet of heavy freight diesel locomotives, the RŽD ordered the 2ТЭ25К and 3ТЭ25К starting in 2005. Most of the production was the two-section variant 2ТЭ25К with a total length of 40 metres and a service weight of 288 or 294 tonnes. Only a smaller number was built of the three-section 3ТЭ25К. They got the nickname “Peresvet”.
They are using the proven Kolomna D49 engine. In the first 15 locomotives, this was a twelve-cylinder with 3,400 hp. After the production had been stopped, it was continued with the 2ТЭ25КМ powered by the 16-cylinder variant of the same engine with 3,600 hp.
In 2020, a 2ТЭ25К2М was built with GEVO-12 engines imported from General Electric in the USA which deliver 4,215 hp after the 3ТЭ25К2М was already being produced. Production with these engines stopped again in 2022 due to the sanctions. Another prototype built in 2019 was the 2TE25K3M with a more modern Kolomna engine that was accompanied by a single 3TE25K3M. Now, the 2ТЭ28 and 3ТЭ28 are to be their successors.
