Railpool Orders 18 Bombardier Traxx Locomotives

German Railpool makes an $82m order with Bombardier to supply 18 Traxx Multi-System (MS) and Traxx AC last mile locomotives.

The new locomotives will increase Railpool’s fleet to a total of 183 locomotives, 169 of which are Traxx locomotives.

The order comprises 13 MS units and five AC last mile locomotives, which will be deployed in Scandinavia for services in North Europe, Sweden and Norway.

8 of the 13 Multi System locomotives will be used for running on the new, extended Germany-Austria-Switzerland-Italy-Netherlands-Belgium corridor while the remaining five will operate on the Germany-Austria-Belgium-Netherlands railway corridor.

The company explained that it has already sold more than 100 Traxx AC2 locomotives for operation in Scandinavia.

The Traxx AC last mile vehicle is an electric locomotive that features a support diesel engine and battery.

In many cases, an additional shunting locomotive must be carried by diesel or electric trains on their entire trip to be able to cross the short non-electrified ‘last mile’ sections in places such as harbours or terminals.

The company’s last mile feature allows the Traxx locomotive to bridge these non-electrified track sections, so support diesel shunting locomotives are no longer needed.

Railpool expects to receive the delivery of its first Traxx AC Last Mile locomotive for operations in Scandinavia in the third quarter of next year.

Designed for operation on these non-electrified track sections for up to 8h, the Traxx AC locomotives are also well-equipped for service in Scandinavia’s harsh environments.