BELGIUM: National passenger operator SNCB has awarded Alstom a framework contract for the supply of up to 50 third-generation Traxx electric locomotives, with a €120m firm order for an initial 24 to be delivered from 2026.
The 200 km/h locomotives are be used on domestic and cross-border services, including on high speed lines, and as such will be equipped to use 1·5 kV DC electrification in the Netherlands, 3 kV DC in Belgium, 15 kV 16·7 Hz in Germany and 25 kV 50 Hz in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. They will be equipped with ETCS and the Belgian TBL1+, Dutch ATB and German LZB/PZB signalling systems.
Announcing the order on February 1, Managing Director of Alstom Benelux Bernard Belvaux said the third generation of the Traxx design is ‘the most sustainable’ in its category and ‘can boast proven reliability and an optimised maintenance cycle’.
More than 2 400 Traxx locos have been sold over the last 20 years, including 280 in service in the Benelux countries, and the type is approved in 20 countries and operates more than 300 million km a year.
The locomotives for SNCB will be manufactured at Kassel in Germany, with bogies from the Siegen site and bodyshells from Wrocław in Poland. Alstom’s site at Charleroi will supply the signalling equipment.
