Source-checkedTechnology & automation

Electric Locomotives

by hgschmie · for Factorio

Adds multiple tiers of electric locomotives

1.1KDownloads
13d agoLast updated
GPL-3.0License
2.1Latest game version

About Electric Locomotives

From Factorio Mod Portal

Adds multiple tiers of electric locomotives

Adds electric locomotives to Factorio. It started out as an attempt to fix the various electric train mods that exist but became a full rewrite.

Electric locomotives are an alternative to the regular Factorio Locomotives. They do not need to be refueled but are powered and controlled by central control stations. These must be placed on the same surface to provide energy. Control stations connect to the electric distribution network and send power directly to the locomotives.

Electric Locomotives come in three tiers: Standard, MK2 and MK3. By default, all locomotive tiers can be researched but improved wagons are disabled. This can be changed in the startup settings (see below).

Tier overview

| | applies to | Standard | MK2 | MK3 | |-----------------------|-----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------| | Tier Factor | all | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | | Power Consumption | Locomotives | 600kW | 900 kW | 1.2MW | | Maximum Speed | Locomotives | 259.2 kph | 338.8 kph | 518.4 kph | | Charge Capacity | Control Station | 200kJ | 300kJ | 400kJ | | Power Consumption | Control Station | 12.25MW | 18.275MW | 24.3MW | | Capacity | Cargo Wagons | - | 60 slots | 80 slots | | Capacity | Fluid Wagons | - | 75,000 | 100,000 |

Locomotives

Each locomotive receives power from a control station. A locomotive can only receive power from a control station on the same surface.

An electric locomotive must be constantly supplied. By default, it has enough power onboard to last 20 ticks (about 1/3 of a second) if using full power before running out of power.

Each locomotive displays its type (and the fact that it is electric) with overlay icons.

Control Stations

A control stations provides locomotives on the same surface with power. There is no range limit, one control station per surface is sufficient for a few locomotives. If needed, multiple control stations can be placed to support larger number of locomotives.

By default, a control station can support 20 locomotives matching its tier: a standard control station can support 20 locomotives at full load.

Locomotives only consume energy when they are accelerating or moving; it is possible to "oversubscribe" a control station. If a locomotive can not be supplied fully, its energy bar will start dropping. Locomotives that get no power will decelerate and stop while displaying the "out of fuel" icon.

Control stations are not tied to a specific tier, a standard control station can supply a MK3 locomotive, however due to the larger power drain, it will only be able to support fewer locomotives.

Wagons

Standard Factorio wagons are clamped to the maximum speed that a Factorio locomotive can achieve and would slow down a train that is moved by a MK2 or MK3 locomotive. When enabled, the higher technology tiers will also enable matching cargo and fluid wagons.

Technology bonuses for speed and acceleration

Regular locomotives can run faster and accelerate better when using different fuel. For electric locomotives, this can be matched by doing additional research into Electric Railway acceleration and Electric Railway speed.

| Technology Level | Speed bonus (equal fuel) | Acceleration Bonus (equal fuel) | |------------------|---------------------------|----------------------------------| | (unresearched) | 0% (Wood/Coal) | 0% (Wood/Coal) | | Level 1 | 5% (Solid Fuel) | 20% (Solid Fuel) | | Level 2 | 10% | 50% | | Level 3 | 15% (Rocket/Nuclear Fuel) | 80% (Rocket Fuel) | | Level 4 | 20% | 115% | | Level 5 | 25% | 150% (Nuclear Fuel) |

Console commands

The /electric-locomotives-show-levels shows the current research levels for speed and acceleration and the bonus applied. If these values differ from the research shown in the technology tree, please file a bug report.

Settings

Improved Locomotives (startup, default is true)

Enables additional MK2 and MK3 tiers for electric locomotives. When researching additional technology tiers, more powerful locomotives and control stations become available.

Improved Cargo Wagons (startup, default is false)

Enables additional MK2 and MK3 tiers for cargo wagons. When researching additional technology tiers, cargo wagons that run faster and have higher capacity become available.

Improved Fluid Wagons (startup, default is false)

Enables additional MK2 and MK3 tiers for fluid wagons. When researching additional technology tiers, fluid wagons that run faster and have higher capacity become available.

Always add icons (startup, default is true)

Mark any electric locomotive using hovering icons. The default is to always show the icons. When this setting is turned off, the icons are only displayed in 'Alt mode'.

Unlock max speed for all wagons (startup, default is true)

When enabled, all wagons in the game (base wagons and wagons contributed by other mods) will be modified to run at least at the speed of the fastest electric locomotive. This ensures that trains are not slowed down by any wagon (and unless the higher capacity for cargo and fluid wagons is wanted, there is no need to enable improved cargo wagons and fluid wagons).

Electric energy update interval (startup, default is 5)

Number of ticks between updates for any locomotive. For very large bases, it may make sense to increase this number so that fewer locomotives are updated per tick which helps with FPS/UPS. The total power capacity of a locomotive is 4x this value.

Read the full description on Factorio Mod Portal →

Highlights

From source data

Game versions

Built for Factorio 2.1.

Footprint

Rated a light load on a server.

License

Published under GPL-3.0.

Electric Locomotives on Nxeon

From our catalogue
One-click install
Supported on Nxeon Factorio servers. We download it from Factorio Mod Portal, place it, and restart the server.
Server side
Required on the server
Server load
light
Smallest plan we suggest
Factorio — 2 GB (2 GB RAM). This follows our own load rating above, not a benchmark.
Latest build
2.1.5, released 2026-10-21

Recent builds

BuildReleasedGame versionsLoaders
2.1.52026-10-212.1n/a
2.1.42026-10-122.1n/a
2.1.32026-10-102.1n/a
2.1.22026-10-012.1n/a
2.1.12026-09-302.1n/a
2.1.02026-09-222.1n/a

Dependencies

Declared by the newest build that lists any. Required ones are installed with it on one-click installs.

Run Electric Locomotives on a Factorio server

Pick a server or deploy a new one above; it is installed in one click.

What kind of mod it is

From the catalog
Listed on Factorio Mod Portal as “Mods”

Technology & automation

Machines, power, logistics and automation.

Runs on your server

From source side support

Factorio Mod Portal lists Electric Locomotives as required on the server. Check its Factorio Mod Portal page to see whether players need it too.

Compatibility

Game
Factorio
Runs on
Serverrequired on the server
Game versions
2.1

Verified at the source

  • ✓Factorio Mod PortalOfficial listing, checked 2026-10-22Open ↗
  • ✓Authorhgschmie, as published on Factorio Mod Portal
  • ✓LicenseGPL-3.0Free

Electric Locomotives, answered

Generated from the mod’s own source data.

Do my players need to install Electric Locomotives?

Factorio Mod Portal lists Electric Locomotives as required on the server. Check its Factorio Mod Portal page to see whether players need it too.

Is it free?

Yes. Electric Locomotives is free to download from Factorio Mod Portal. Its license is GPL-3.0.

How do I add it to my Nxeon server?

Use “Add to a server” on this page, or open NxLabs from your dashboard. We install it, restart your server and switch it on.

NxLabs

Run Electric Locomotives on a Factorio server.

Deploy in about a minute from $2.99 a month, then add Electric Locomotives in one click.