Going beyond Poland: Cargounit leases locomotives to first customer in Romania
Cargounit, the Polish leading locomotive lessor, has extended its operations beyond the home market. The Wrocław-based company found its first customer in Romania. It is Unicom Tranzit that will operate two Smartron locomotives leased from Cargounit.
On Thursday, 25 August, Cargounit handed over the Smartron locomotive, the first one in its fleet, to the company’s first customer in Romania. Unicom Tranzit, the Romanian private rail freight carrier, will use the vehicle for moving freight in the home market. It will receive the second Smartron vehicle from the Polish lessor in October.
“The countries of Central and Eastern Europe remain the key area of development for Cargounit. The demand for modern rolling stock is growing due to the need to replace older vehicles with modern ones and due to the redirection of significant volumes of goods previously exported from Ukraine by sea to railways. We see great potential in the locomotive rental market both in the Polish market and on the Romanian market, which is one of the largest railway markets in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Łukasz Boroń, CEO of Cargounit.
Smartron locomotives
The Smartron locomotives are based on the Vectron family being developed and manufactured by Siemens Mobility. Each vehicle weighs 83 tonnes, it is adapted for work with 15- or 25-kilovolt alternating current and is also equipped with the PZB / LZB train protection system. In contrast to the Vectrons, which can be seen in plenty of the EU countries, the Smartrons are certified for operations only in Romania, Germany and Bulgaria. The vehicle that will be run by Unicom Tranzit was painted in the standard ‘Capri Blue’ colour and covered with the logos of Cargounit and Unicom Tranzit. Having a power of 5.4 megawatts, it can speed up to 160 kilometres per hour.
“Cargounit goes beyond Poland and strengthens its presence in Central and Eastern Europe. The company has been using modern Vectron locomotives for years, and now it is expanding its portfolio with our next vehicle – the Smartron locomotive, dedicated to the Romanian market. We are glad that our modern and ecological locomotives help the company in achieving ambitious development goals and contribute to the promotion of rail transport in Europe. In the fall, the Cargounit fleet will add another Smartron,” added Hubert Meronk, CEO of Siemens Mobility Sp. z o.o., the Polish subsidiary of the train builder.