Alstom and Railpool sign contract for Traxx Universal locomotives

Credit: Alstom

Alstom and Railpool, one of Europe’s leading rail vehicle leasing companies, have signed a contract for 50 Traxx Universal multi-purpose locomotives. The contract is valued at up to €260 million.

The Traxx Universal multi-purpose locomotives can be operated for freight and passenger corridor services. Characterised by both high reliability and flexibility in combination with an optimised power consumption, the locomotives are a proven solution for efficient cross-border operations. Extended maintenance intervals allow for less interventions to ease operational planning, reduce costs and increase availability. The locomotives will cover operations in eight countries, namely Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxemburg and Poland.

All locomotives will be equipped with the leading signalling system Atlas, Alstom’s onboard solution for the European Train Control System (ETCS). This system enables operation on extended corridors with the broadest coverage of countries and lines, both in ETCS as well as for legacy system operation.

“We are delighted that Railpool has chosen Alstom to expand their operations in several parts of Europe,” Kevin Cogo, Vice-President of Rolling Stock, Locomotives & Components for Alstom DACH, said. “This contract marks the continuation of a long-standing and successful partnership. With our proven Traxx locomotives and our state-of-the-art Atlas signalling solution, we are proud to contribute to a more efficient and sustainable freight and passenger transport.”

“With this purchase we solidify our commitment to develop our one-of-a-kind full-service offering in the French market on top of the recent office opening in France under the leadership of Frédérique Erlichman,” Torsten Lehnert, CEO of Railpool, said. “All 50 locomotives ordered from our partner Alstom will cover operations in France and along the most important European corridors, contributing to the further advancement of sustainable high-performance rail transportation out of France.”

The engineering of the locomotives will be done at the Alstom site in Mannheim, Germany, while final assembly is planned to take place in Kassel, Germany. Other sites involved are Wroclaw, Poland (carbody shell production), Siegen, Germany (bogies production), and Zurich, Switzerland (project management).