SWITZERLAND: Widmer Rail Services company JeMyn has placed the first order for two Siemens Mobility Vectron electric locomotives with a battery module. This will enable zero-emission last mile freight and shunting operations on non-electrified tracks.
Financing for the order announced on February 5 is being provided by Raiffeisen Schweiz, and delivery is planned for 2027.
The high-voltage lithium-ion battery pack will have an intelligent management system to control charging and discharging. This was developed with support from the federal Future of Rail Freight Transport programme.
‘Thanks to this functional package, we can now handle shunting operations even more efficiently without the assistance of additional shunting locomotives’, said Widmer Rail Services CEO Pierre Widmer. ‘This will enable us to further optimise our operating processes and save costs.’
Andre Rodenbeck, CEO of Rolling Stock at Siemens Mobility, said ’with the battery power module, our customers can now cover their entire operational routes electrically and with batteries, further reducing CO2 emissions in rail transport’.
Siemens Mobility has now sold more than 2 600 Vectron family locomotives to 103 customers in 16 countries. The design has operating approval in 20 European countries.