ICE 3 weighs 400T, it has 16 motors that probably weigh less than 2T each. Overall the motores are most likely less than 10% of the weight (ICE 3 is a very ligh

ICE 3 weighs 400T, it has 16 motors that probably weigh less than 2T each. Overall the motores are most likely less than 10% of the weight (ICE 3 is a very light train overall, with lots of motors, probably giving it an unfavorable motor/train weight compared to an electric locomotive-pulled freight train). A bigger concern is the efficiency of transporting energy _to_ the train. That's one of the reasons why long distance routes use overhead electricity, because you can have higher voltage (12kv-25kv) compared to third rail (600v-1.5kv). This is like third rail on steroids -- lots of construction near the ground, probably lots of energy losses all around. Plus it's an unproven technology, with a single vendor. It'll be a hard sell.