POLAND: The National Centre for Research & Development has awarded Newag a 10·9m złoty grant to support the development of what the company says would be Europe’s first TSI-compliant six-axle multi-system electric freight locomotive. This programme is expected to cost a total of 27·2m złoty.
Announcing the grant on September 25, Newag said it planned to use the results of ‘cutting-edge’ R&D projects to bring innovative technologies, products and processes to the market.
The demonstrator locomotive is expected to be rolled out in 2018, and will be based on Newag’s existing Dragon six-axle single-system design which was launched in 2009.
‘At present Newag offers Dragon locomotives whose average reliability ratio is 99·6%’, said Deputy President Bartosz Krzemiński. ‘The locomotive’s excellent performance led to our decision to develop this product further.’
