SWEDEN: Heavy load transport specialist Kraftdragarna has awarded Kiruna Wagon a contract to supply a wagon with a capacity of up to 490 tonnes to handle power transformers and other equipment for the energy sector.
Heavy haul and specialist freight rolling stock manufacturer Kiruna Wagon said the design will be adapted to Swedish railway conditions, with a focus on robust operation, efficient loading, operational reliability and high availability.
Transporting heavy loads ‘places high demands on the interaction between the load, the wagon and the railway infrastructure’, said Anders Viklund, Technical Director at Kiruna Wagon. ‘We are dealing with a structure of approximately 74 m in length with 32 axles, where very high loads must be managed while ensuring the wagon can negotiate curves and operate within a restricted loading gauge.
‘Our role is to optimise the entire load-bearing system — from load distribution and axle loads to dynamic performance in operation — enabling safe, efficient and precise transport execution.’
Delivery is scheduled for August 2028
Preparing for the future
Kiruna Wagon Managing Director Mattias Gustafsson said ‘for truly heavy and complex transport, rail is often the most robust and efficient alternative. We believe that rail, with solutions enabling high load capacity and high axle loads, will play an increasingly important role going forward — both for industrial competitiveness and for a long-term sustainable transport system.’
Kraftdragarna said it is investing at a time when demand for advanced specialist transport services will increase, driven by the electrification of industry, expansion of the electricity grids and strengthened Swedish emergency preparedness capabilities.
’We see a structural shift in increased demand that is not temporary. This investment is a clear positioning: we want to be a leading player when the most critical transport in Sweden is carried out on Swedish railways’, said CEO Jonas Linder on April 7. ‘We are building specially adapted capacity that will make a difference for a long time to come — both in everyday life, in a crisis and in a war situation.’
