The ЭП20 (EP20) is a heavy electric locomotive for passenger service introduced in 2011. The requirements called for use under 25 kV AC and 3 kV DC and in temperatures as low as -50 degrees Celsius. Power had to be sufficient for 24 coaches at 160 km/h and 17 coaches at 200 km/h. It was designed by a joint venture between Transmashholding and Alstom, with the electric part coming from Alstom and several other important parts from different western suppliers. Production of the order for 200 locomotives started at Novocherkassk.
The six axles are spread over three two-axle bogies. With an output of 7,200 kW from six traction motors, the transformer is rated at 9,300 kW to provide enough power for long passenger trains. Each locomotive has four pantographs of which two can be used at the same time when running under DC power. Two different variants were built with different gear ratios for 160 or 200 km/h. The locomotives were used for services between Moscow and Sochi during the 2014 Winter Olympics. Only 80 were built until 2021 and then production was cancelled when the western partners left Russia.
