The increasing freight volumes to be carried worldwide know a rapid dynamics demanding cargo trains to ship more freight in an every day faster rhythm. To cope with demand, locomotives have to adapt to specific needs.
Rail freight transport is nowadays backed by legislation. As, freight transport on distances longer than 300 km is expected to fully shift to railways, rolling stock manufacturers have to use the technologies that enable an efficient and safe long-distance transport.
Providing an efficient cargo transport with improved capacity depends on the rolling stock, its design and concept and last but not least on the technologies used to meet performance criteria.
For shipping large volumes of freight, locomotives have to dispose of an improved traction capacity and vehicles have to adapt to market requirements. “Longer trains and more performing locomotives are the best solutions for making efficient every km a train covers and for increasing freight volumes. The rail industry needs investments in developing capacities and increasing the capacity of vehicles. The future of rail freight transport depends on increasing transport capacities which, in turn, demands massive investments”, declared Alexander Hedderich, CEO DB Schenker Rail.
Nowadays, to meet the demands, railway companies launch pilot trains on long-distances and with optimised freight volumes, especially on the routes that link Europe to Asia, but this type of services cannot be carried out without performing vehicles. For this purpose, in the coming months, Transmashholding and Alstom will develop the 2ES5 locomotive dedicated to freight transport. The prototype locomotive was launched in April 2012 and the delivery of the first locomotive being expected for 2012. The locomotive uses asynchronous traction and is energy-efficient. “Using the new locomotives will significantly help increase the capacity of Russian trains and will help optimise energy efficiency, at the same time reducing maintenance costs”, shows a press release of RZD.
Turkish manufacturer Tulmosaş and General Electric have jointly developed the PowerHaul locomotive, designed to generate more horse power and aimed at shipping an increased volume of freight.
Operators follow the trend and purchase rolling stock
For improving freight transport efficiency, RZD plans to buy 1,250 locomotives granting over EUR 2.5 Billion to the acquisition of rolling stock. Ukrainian Railways takes the example of the Russian operator and has already signed two agreements (with Transmashholding and Elmavalmshenebeli-Georgia) for the acquisition of 433 locomotives by 2016 at a cost of more than EUR 1.5 Billion.
After tens of years with no rolling stock acquisition contract, Serbian Railways will buy performing locomotives to boost cargo transport volumes, as well as trains and underground trains. Thus, “in the coming years, we will buy 15 modern locomotives, for which we will pay EUR 65 Million. The locomotives will be operated on the European network”, declared the company’s executive director Milovan Markovic.
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