Talk:DB Class 120

Plans to build more than 2,000 machines were also stopped by German reunification
AEG got back its Henningsdorf locomitive factory near Berlin. To save the jobs there, the politicians decided to order some class 112 (DR 212) locomotives from there instead. Meanwhile, the German locomotive industrie developed and tested the class 127 (Siemens) and class 128 (AEG) prototypes. ABB Henschel had no prototype machine in its own, they used a class 120 platform/chassis with upgraded electrical interior. The plans to finalize this development to the once planned successor of class 120, the universal class 121, were stopped by the privatization of the German railroads.

During the second half of the 1990s, the problem of a shortage of fast locomotives became urgent. In the end, ABB Henschel was comissioned to develop class 101 as successor for class 103, the iconical intercity class. AEG and Siemens were comissioned to develop the classes 145 and 152 for freight train usage later on.

Since the order of class 101 was done first and made shortly after the privatization, it was still done with a future freight train usage in mind. According to the specifications, class 101 locomotives should be able to run future Inter Cargo Express trains, which never came in the end. The machines were always hauling intercity services. But since they were developed with that kind of (reduced) universal approach, the can be seen as successor of class 120. 2001:16B8:B5E3:B200:11C4:8C97:E7AA:6736 (talk) 00:02, 20 March 2024 (UTC)