The ES64U2 is a high-power universal locomotive that belongs to the EuroSprinter family and was developed by Siemens on the initiative of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). There it had won a tender for such a new three-phase locomotive and has been used since 2000 as classes 1016 and 1116. The type received the protected designation “Taurus” and replaced a large number of old locomotives in all train types within a short time. While the 1016 is only equipped for the power system with 15,000 V and 16.7 Hz, as is mainly used in German-speaking countries, the 1116 is a multi-system locomotive that can also be used under 25,000 V and 50 Hz. Due to the frequency steps of the pulse inverter, the locomotive plays a distinctive major scale melody when starting.
The ES64U4 is a further development that is technically based on the freight locomotive ES64F4, but also reaches 230 km/h or 143 mph and looks like the ES64U2. At ÖBB it became class 1216. As the weight had grown due to the technical equipment, a lighter transformer with an hourly output of only 6,400 kW and a continuous output of 6,000 kW was used. In addition to the two AC systems mentioned above, the locomotive can also be used with direct current at 1,500 and 3,000 V. Under 1,500 V, the power is limited to a maximum of 4,200 kW to reduce the amperage.
On September 2, 2006, the later ÖBB 1216 025 reached 357 km/h or 222 mph on the Nuremberg-Ingolstadt high-speed line, making it the fastest locomotive in the world and breaking the record set by the SNCF BB 9004 in 1955. Apart from an increase in the overhead voltage and the dismantling of a few obstructive small parts on the locomotive, no special adjustments were made.
The most important user of the Taurus is the ÖBB, which uses 50 class 1016 “Taurus I”, 282 class 1116 “Taurus II” and 50 class 1216 “Taurus III”. They now make up almost 50% of the ÖBB electric locomotive park and are used equally in passenger and freight service. The flagship is the Railjet, which is one of the fastest locomotive-hauled trains in the world at 230 km/h and consists of six trailers and one control car, which are operationally permanently connected and are pulled or pushed by a Taurus. The control car of the second generation Railjet is designed like the Vectron, but still hauled by a Taurus. After the night trains were discontinued by Deutsche Bahn, ÖBB Nightjets are also used in the neighboring countries
Deutsche Bahn only uses 28 ES64U2 as class 182, which were originally allocated to DB Cargo and used to haul the 160 km/h (99 mph) Parcel Intercity. Starting in 2009 they were transferred to DB Regio for use in commuter traffic. They achieve better acceleration compared to older locomotives and, if necessary, also achieve travel times comparable to multiple units. Furthermore, the two series of Taurus are used by several private and state operators in Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland and Hungary. Cross-border, combined cargo transport is a main area of application for private operators.