EUROPE: Czech manufacturer CZ Loko has won a contract to supply an EffiShunter 1000 four-axle diesel-electric locomotive to Oslo-based leasing and maintenance company Trainpoint Norway, and will prioritise obtaining approval for use in Sweden is it sees a large potential market for the replacement of ageing shunting locos.
The loco is scheduled to be delivered by the end of this year for initial use at the port of Göteborg, where it will be maintained by Trainpoint Norway’s sister company Nordisk Togteknikk.
It will be equipped with the Swedish ATC and the Norwegian ATP-2 train control systems as well as ETCS. Authorisation for use in Sweden is envisaged by the end of 2022, to be followed by approval in Norway, with CZ Loko drawing on its experience with the six EffiShunter 1600 Co-Co diesel-electric locos delivered to Finnish private operator Fenniarail since 2015.
‘We see a great market potential in Sweden and Norway’, said CZ Loko Sales Manager Jan Kutálek. ‘We know from negotiations that there are more than 100 decades-old locomotives that need to be replaced. Their operation will become more and more demanding not only due to age, but also the absence of ETCS. These locomotives will need to be replaced in the coming years, and we want to be there.’
Trainpoint Norway CEO Hans Sørum said the leasing company ‘sees a need for modern low-emission and ETCS-equipped locomotives on the Scandinavian market’, and ‘appreciates the CZ Loko product portfolio on account of the fact that the Czech builder can deliver the whole range of shunters, from two to six axles’, and with the ability to operate in temperatures down to -40°C
He said CZ Loko’s modular design was important ‘as we will probably upgrade this locomotive to pure battery power at a later stage’. Trainpoint Norway plans to acquire more EffiShunter 1000s in the future, and would ‘closely’ follow the manufacturer’s development of ‘green’ locomotives.
