Antwerp B 280314 The Beast

Antwerp-Berchem station, March 28th 2014

For reasons entirely unknown to me, unit 1345 has gained the nickname "The Beast".  Built by Alstom, and delivered on January 15th 2001, she is one of 14 HLE 13s used by B-Technics to pull passenger trains from Brussels-South station to Luxembourg - the remaining 46 units are used by B-Logistics on freight trains.  Unlike her colleagues which carry the standard Belgian TBL1+ automatic train protection system, 1345 is the only one fitted with a non-standard ETCS system.

While the B-Technics units operate out of Brussels-South station, they receive maintenance at the train depot of Antwerp North, so they are not a rare sight at Berchem station (usually in transit from the depot to the Brussels/Vorst railway yard).  In fact, they are not a rare sight at all - this is 1345's third return trip from the Antwerp-North depot in two weeks time, it appears to be a slightly 'technically challenged' unit.