UK: Freightliner and Siemens Mobility are to undertake the first-in-class retrofitting of ETCS equipment to a Class 66V, a variant of the widely-used EMD Class 66 diesel locomotive family.
A DB Cargo UK Class 66 has previously been retrofitted with ETCS at Progress Rail’s site in Doncaster as the first-in-class for the type. However, Freightliner said there are different versions of the Class 66 because the design has matured over many years, with changes to wiring, bracket and item positions and modifications to support intermodal operations.
Freightliner will fit the Siemens Mobility ETCS equipment to loco 66591 in-house at its Leeds Midland Road depot, enabling it to draw on its knowledge of the ‘subtle differences’ between core and variant Class 66 locos.
Installation is scheduled to start in June, and Freightliner will share its learnings with the wider industry as part of the East Coast Digital Programme to deploy ETCS between London and Grantham.
