From left to right: original blue livery with old logo, blue livery with new logo, lime green livery with new logo.

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All the necessary dependencies are either included in the package or are avaible on the DLS. Dependencies that are not mine are property of their respective authors.

Following the huge success of the brand-new Re 460 locomotives bought by the SBB CFF FFS, the BLS company, wich operated the Lotschberg Line, started considering the purchase of similar locomotives. A few years later the decision was finalized, with BLS ordering eight “Lok 2000″s from the SLM-ABB consortium.

These eight new locomotives were delivered starting from 1994, classified as “Re 465″s. Compared to the federal railway’s Re 460s, the BLS Re 465s were a largely improved version of the former, being more powerful (7000 vs 6100 Kws) and fetauring redesigned electronics and more equimpent redundancy in order to be even more reliable.

Another difference with the Re 460s was that the Re 465s were fitted with the Type IIId multiple-unit control system, enabling them to be used in multiple-unit working with BLS’ older locomotives, including the Ae 415 of the late ’40s and early ’50s, the ubiquitous Re 4/4 425s (built between 1964 and 1983) and even SBB CFF FFS locomotives such as the Re 4/4 and Re 6/6.

Soon after the first order of eight units (numbered 001-008), due to the planned increase in freight traffic on the Lotschberg Line (as part of the NFTA program) the Swiss Federal Council suggested BLS to buy ten more locomotives. As BLS’s budget didn’t allow it, the Federal Council instead entrusted SBB CFF FFS to buy those additional 10 units on behalf of BLS and then renting to them before they were eventually purchased outright by BLS in 2003.

All 18 units were delivered between 1994 and 1997, entering service fitted in a dark blue livery with a large BLS logo on the sides, painted in an ivory-white colour (along with the side grills).

Unlike the federal railways’ Re 460s, wich were all re-assigned to exclusively passenger services by the early 2000s, BLS’ Re 465s remained more “loyal” to their “unviersal locomotive” design concept, being used interchangeably both on heavy freight services on the Lotschberg line and also passenger services as well, usually with EW IV-type or EW III-type coaches (the latter of wich can be used in a push-pull formation). Two Re 465s were also temporarily used on Bern’s S-Bahn services, top-and-tailing a handful of 1960s-era EW II coaches.

In 2006, with the restructuration of BLS into the current BLS S.A. (following the merger between BLS and the Regionalverkehr Mittelland company) the eighteen Re 465s recieved the new “winged wheel”-like BLS company logo.

Starting from 2019, similarily to the SBB CFF FFS’ Re 460s, the whole Re 465 fleet started to undergo an extensive refurbishment program, wich is intended to lenghten the lifespan of these locomotives by around 20 more years. The modifications include the replacement of the Type IIId multiple-unit control system with the more modern ZMS, enabling Re 465s to work in multiple-unit with the newer Re 485s (Bombardier TRAXXs) and Re 475s (Siemens Vectrons). Refurbished units are repainted in a strikingly bright lime green livery with blue BLS logos.

Currently, out of 18 units, six are assigned to passenger services and twelve are assigned to BLS cargo for freight services.