GERMANY: DB Cargo and Siemens Mobility have unveiled the Vectron Dual Mode Light, an electro-diesel locomotive optimised for flexible deployment on partly-electrified routes and to reduce the need for shunting.
It is several tonnes lighter than a conventional Vectron Dual Mode loco. The changes are intended to enable more efficient operation and to facilitate access branch lines and sidings with weight limits. This is expected to make single wagonload traffic faster and more cost-effective. However, the loco is less powerful in diesel mode than the standard Vectron Dual Mode variant.
DB Cargo’s goal is to equip around 70% of its diesel locomotives with ‘innovative’ traction drives by 2030. In September 2020 it awarded Siemens Mobility a framework contract for up to 400 Vectron Dual Mode electro-diesel locomotives. Firm orders have now been placed for 150, which DB Cargo estimates will save 12 million litres of fuel and 25 000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
‘This new generation of locomotives is important for DB Cargo’, said DB’s Board Member for Freight Sigrid Nikutta when the first loco was unveiled in Halle on March 15. ’Many customers will benefit from this, and the environment is the big winner. If we operate this locomotive with green electricity and HVO diesel from cooking oils, we offer our customers an almost CO2-free supply chain from start to finish — without intermediate stops.
CEO of Siemens Mobility Michael Peter said ‘thanks to many digital technologies and equipment on board, such as shunting by remote control or ETCS, our locomotive is perfectly equipped for the future’.
