IRELAND: The Stadler Class 99 electro-diesel locomotive for UK operator GB Railfreight was receiving close scrutiny from Iarnród Éireann at InnoTrans in Berlin, with the Irish national operator confirming to Railway Gazette International that it had discussed with the manufacturer how the type might be adapted for operation in Ireland.
Iarnród Éireann Chief Executive Jim Meade told Railway Gazette International ‘we will eventually need to replace our aging diesel fleet with dual-mode locomotives because our freight strategy will take us down that direction after we complete our electrification programme.
‘The replacement for the class 071s and 201s eventually will have to be a bi-mode electric with some form of HVO [renewable diesel fuel] traction in the long term; even the Class 201s are beyond mid-life already.
‘The fact that the Class 99 is going to the UK is a good guide for us because we can go and talk to GB Railfreight and understand exactly how they are performing. They have done a great job with the way they have designed, procured and financed the fleet.’
Purchase or leasing options would both be evaluated when Iarnród Éireann next acquires new locomotives.
Ralf Warwel, Stadler’s Marketing & Sales Director for the UK & Ireland, also told Railway Gazette International that ‘there are a lot of tenders in prospect in Ireland, there might be a tender for the new metro system at some point so Ireland is certainly somewhere that we will look at’.
