050 in red; Borderless - Powerful - Fast
The colours of the 1216 050 have been supporting the promotional character of this locomotive. By its delivery in September 2005, the engine got large TAURUS and Siemens logos and the slogan 'Borderless-Powerful-Fast The first European High-Speed locomotive'. This engine carried at that time no sub type indication. Fronts of the machine were like the other prototypes, with an OBB logo and the service number without control digit. By its first visit to Italy, around May 2006, the engine got the additional front number E190 050.

At the HSL-Zuid
It started with the 050 running on the new high speed line Amsterdam-Antwerp (HSL-ZUID), of which it would become frequent visitor from 2006 to 2008. Siemens built the signalling systems on this track section and therefore could use its own machine for testing them on higher speeds. The first visit of the 050 to the Netherlands lasted from January to February 2006. The machine set the high speed record on Dutch territory immediately on 250 kph. Remarkable is also that the 050 ran on 1500V DC catenary, something of which it initially was said that was not capable of doing that. It proved however that the 1216 series is a genuine quadric-tension locomotive, but that only official approval of, and software for, running on this catenary were the only things that were missing. Some specific information; the 050 ran on 1500V DC on 23.01.2006. During its first visit, the 050 only ran on the southern part of section, between the Dutch-Belgian border and Rotterdam. During its second visit it ran on the northern section, from Rotterdam to Amsterdam. The most recent visit dates from January-March 2008.