SNCF Class BB 10003 locomotive was used as a test machine for operations of the TGV-TMST on 750 V and 3000 V. In 1998 the locomotive was converted back to a non-experimental class - as SNCF BB 15007. (SNCF Class BB 15000) The results were not as good as synchronous motor technology; it was not until the introduction of GTO transistor technology that series production of an asynchronous induction motored locomotive began in France, as the "Eurostar" TGV (1992), and later the BB 36000 "Astride" (1996). SNCF Class BB 10003 The locomotive SNCF BB 10003 was an experimental prototype locomotive converted from a SNCF
SNCF Class BB 15000 with the BB7200 and BB22200 series and have even a great deal in common with cabs of other SNCF locomotives of the 1960s. This class was also the first to introduce the VI ("Vitesse Imposée") cruise control system which is now standard on all SNCF locomotives delivered after 1971. The electrical part consists of a single pantograph (type AM18U) which collects 25 kV from the catenary. Power is passed through a transformer which lowers the tension to about 1500 V AC and a bridge rectifier controlled by thyristors rectify it into DC, which is then fed into the traction motors.