NETHERLANDS: RTB Cargo has signed a 10-year agreement to lease four battery-electric shunting and medium-distance locomotives from Northrail, which will provide full maintenance.
The Vossloh Rolling Stock DM20-EBB locomotives are intended to operate in the Port of Rotterdam and its hinterland, and will be able to run to Germany via the Betuwe Route freight line.
They are rated at 2 500 kW when operating from 25 kV 50 Hz electrification and 1 500 kW when running under 1·5 kV DC. They will be equipped with a 350 kWh battery which will provide 500 kW at the wheel and allow operation on non-electrified tracks.
The first locomotive is scheduled to be delivered in October 2024 for three months of testing before the remaining three are delivered in the first quarter of 2025.
Framework order
The four locomotives are being supplied under a framework agreement for up to 50 which Northrail’s parent company Paribus Rail Investment Management signed with CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotives subsidiary Vossloh Rolling Stock in March 2021. Financing will be provided by long-term partner RIVE Private Investment. So far firm orders have been placed for 10 locomotives.
‘Northrail is currently the first and only rental provider in Europe that can provide its customers with these completely newly developed zero-emission shunting and medium-distance locomotives’, said Dr Volker Simmering, managing partner of Northrail and Northrail Investment Management when the RTB Cargo deal was announced on September 8.
