EUROPE: Nordic Re-Finance has bought 44 Am843 diesel locomotives from Switzerland’s SBB Cargo, saying this will enable it to offer ‘future-proof’ locomotives for lease in the Swedish market.
The Am843 single-cab four-axle Vossloh G1700-2 diesel locos dating from 2003-09 are used for shunting and light freight operations. They will continue to be operated by SBB Cargo in Switzerland for at least five years under a sale and leaseback deal.
SBB Cargo is switching to the use of electro-diesel and battery-diesel hybrid locomotives for last-mile operations, and after five years the Am843 fleet will be redeployed primarily in Sweden.
An environmental bridge
Nordic Re-Finance said the majority of large single-cab locomotives in Sweden are T43 and T44 locos manufactured by ASEA during the 1960s and 1970s, and ’while these locomotives are reliable, they do not meet the environmental requirements of the future’.
It expects there to be continued demand for diesel locomotives as rail traffic volumes continue to increase, but said investing in new diesels is risky due to uncertainties regarding future emission regulations.
‘We are making this acquisition for several reasons’, said Nordic Re-Finance Chairman Sven Engquist on July 26. ’The most important is to create an environmental bridge to the solution of the next generation of fuels. Purchasing new diesel locomotives with a depreciation period of 35-40 years is not reasonable, as it either negatively impacts the environment by keeping diesel in use unnecessarily for too long or causes economic issues if the locomotives have to be phased out prematurely.
’The second reason is that the fleet of this type of locomotive in Sweden is approaching the end of its lifespan. It is not economically viable to equip these 50 to 60 year old locomotives with the ERTMS signalling system, which costs several million krona per locomotive.
‘The purchase of these locomotives addresses the market demand we see, and conducting the deal in collaboration with SBB Cargo, with whom we have established a good partnership through previous vehicle purchases, feels secure and stable.’
