European Tribune - Comments - Diesel heavy haul across Europe

Diesel heavy haul across Europe | 56 comments (56 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Diesel heavy haul across Europe (none / 0)

The Porterbrook locomotives now are owned by CB Rail. Though there are rumors that the owners of CB Rail, Babcock & Brown in Australia, are in trouble.

DB Schenker with its purchase of EW&S has the largest fleet of EMD locomotives in Europe, 300+ locomotives. Even SNCF Fret has leased three Class 66s for its new Belgian subsidiary, SNCF Fret Benelux.

by jfbeaulieu on Mon Jul 6th, 2009 at 11:59:27 PM EST

Re: Diesel heavy haul across Europe (none / 0)

That Belgian subsidiary is interesting that way. They now have four EMD 'Class 66' and two Vossloh G2000 -- neither of those types is SNCF familiar with. As apparent main workhorses in the diesel sector, they ordered 45(!) Bombardier TRAXX F140 DE -- without any SNCF experience with TRAXX, not to mention the few references of the TRAXX DE... some risk-taking there.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 7th, 2009 at 02:42:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Diesel heavy haul across Europe (none / 0)

They have made a small move to reduce the number of new Diesel locomotives by transferring some to RFF, I suspect that the work was transferred along with the locomotives, Does it seem to you like SNCF Fret makes big expensive moves with no real strategy? What the heck are the going to do with 400+ big new diesels?

by jfbeaulieu on Tue Jul 7th, 2009 at 10:38:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Diesel heavy haul across Europe (none / 0)

I won't get clever of Fret. Maybe they just want to replace all their old line service diesels, irrespective of size?... However, if they are eyeing international traffic, that 2MW MTU engine adopted from the Siemens EuroRunners is both a little weak and a notorious problem child. (The Bombardier F140 DE have the latest update of it, don't know if it's any better.) The Belgian investment looks like the rushed effort of a latecomer (trying to keep up with DB Cargo/Railion/DB Schencker's voracious expansion from the UK to Poland, from Denmark to Italy).

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 7th, 2009 at 11:18:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Diesel heavy haul across Europe (none / 1)

I wonder if the reason for ordering the TRAXX diesels is because they know that they are going to have problems homologating the BB75000s in any other European country. The BB75000s being based on the Prima I platform may share the high track forces shown by the electric versions which only have limited access in Germany and Switzerland.

by jfbeaulieu on Tue Jul 7th, 2009 at 11:45:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Diesel heavy haul across Europe (none / 0)

A late add-on to this:

The curve-going problem of the international SNCF Prima I (series [4]37000), i.e. the flanges hitting the rail profile, was mitigated in the version for Veolia (series 437500). I don't know if they applied the change in the international version 475000, but, given that they are in delivery now, I suspect they did.
With some search starting from a recent news, I learnt that the 475000 will have 2.4 MW MTU R43 engines (the same as in the Bombardier TRAXX DE F140) starting from 475133.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 14th, 2009 at 01:02:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Diesel heavy haul across Europe (none / 0)

I should also add: there won't be an awful lot of applications left for the SNCF international diesels. Apart from services for big industrial customers with nonelectrified access tracks:

The lightly used Strasbourg-Lauterbourg-Wörth/Germany line (check French electrification map) will be the only transit line for the 475000. (AFAIK Saarbrücken-Sarreguemines only sees freight traffic of local nature, e.g. the mining/steel industry just across the border.)
In Belgium, part of the Antwerp port railway remains, but not for much longer.
The "Iron Rhine" from Antwerp to Germany across the Southern tip of the Netherlands, if and when the Dutch-German section is re-opened, could stay catenary-free for a few years.

I don't know if SNCF also wants to go to the Netherlands, but there, the use of the ready-installed electrification of the harbour access of the Betuweroute is delayed to the end of this year only because of signalling (ETCS again...); other than that, there is Groningen-Leer/Germany in the North (map).

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 14th, 2009 at 01:34:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Diesel heavy haul across Europe | 56 comments (56 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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