Cargounit new Siemens Vectron locomotive will go to the Polish branch of Freightliner
Cargounit – the largest Polish locomotive rental company in Central and Eastern Europe, and one of the leading entities of its kind in Europe has taken delivery of 2022. 8 Vectron locomotives and decided to purchase new locomotives from Siemens Mobility. In total, Cargounit will have up to 31 Siemens electric locomotives in its fleet.
The state-of-the-art Vectron multi-system locomotives are the key to handling a wide variety of freight tasks throughout Europe and to growing strongly also in the intermodal segment. The Vectrons are state-of-the-art, universal locomotives on the European market, with a modular design that allows easy adaptation to the requirements of use and the specifics of running in different countries. The basic premise behind their design was the efficiency and cost-effective performance of traction tasks in national and international traffic, both passenger and freight in Europe.
„The main drivers of growth in the market for the rental of modern electric locomotives in the CEE region have remained constant for several years and are driven by the need to renew the fleet of locomotives operated by rail operators and the growth of the international freight market. We are currently experiencing an additional factor in the growth of demand for multi-system locomotives in the Tri-Central and Eastern European countries, driven by the need for rolling stock to transport freight from Ukraine, including the export of grain and other agricultural products. For several years we have also seen a renaissance of railways in international passenger transport,” said Łukasz Boroń, CEO of Cargounit.
New customers for the rolling stock pool
Cargounit is emerging as the largest customer for Siemens locomotives in Poland. In 2022 alone, the company took delivery of as many as 8 new locomotives (6 Vectrons and 2 Smartrons).
The latest locomotives delivered in December 2022 will be in the hands of completely new customers. The first of these will run with passengers from the new timetable on the Warsaw-Berlin route, operated jointly by DB Fernverkehr AG and PKP Intercity. The second new Vectron locomotive will go to the Polish branch of Freightliner, one of the largest private rail freight operators in Poland.
“The Vectron locomotive, which we have taken delivery of, is the first of its kind in our fleet and strengthens our operational capabilities in cross-border traffic between Poland and Western European countries. We believe that our customers will appreciate this further step in our development, meeting their expectations. Since the beginning of our operations, and it has been 15 years since Freightliner PL launched its first train, we have offered our customers, flexible and timely rail transport services, while setting safety standards. Creating a competitive advantage for rail transport has always been our goal, and developing with modern locomotives is the best way to achieve it,” said Konstantin Skorik, CEO of Freightliner PL Sp. z o.o.
Additional locomotives “under the Christmas tree”
To date, Cargounit has already purchased 28 from Siemens Mobility from the Vectron platforms and Smartron, with the option to order additional vehicles by the end of next year. At the end of 2022, the company has decided to purchase two further two Smartron locomotives and to activate the option for another Vectron locomotive from the existing contract. The fleet of Siemens locomotives purchased by Cargounit currently stands at 31 electric locomotives, and this could increase to 40 locomotives by 2025.
“Cargounit has been consistently pursuing its fleet modernization strategy with, among other things, the purchase of modern Vectron multisystem locomotives and Smartron locomotives for the Romanian market. We are pleased to be able to respond to the growing market demand by offering modern multi-system locomotives such as Vectron, adapted to both freight and passenger traffic. We are proud that our customer base is growing to include Freightliner PL and DB Fernverkehr international entities which are leaders in freight and passenger transport in Europe respectively,” said Łukasz Boroń, CEO of Cargounit Sp. z o.o.
Siemens Mobility has already sold 1,675 Vectrons in total to 63 customers across Europe. The locomotives have covered more than 660 million kilometres and are approved for operation in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland.