Alstom has won a contract to equip 13 DB Cargo freight locomotives with ETCS Baseline 3 Release 2 signalling technology.
The locomotives are to haul freight trains between Germany, Denmark and Sweden. The electric freight locomotives, DB EG 3100 series, will receive the latest European standards for rail interoperability, allowing trains to run smoothly, safely and reliably on cross-border routes. As part of the contract the existing Danish and German systems will undergo an upgrade so they will be able to communicate with the ETCS system. Furthermore, the Swedish system will be integrated as software into the new ETCS hardware. The first certification runs with a retrofitted prototype are scheduled for late 2022. Following these test runs, the remaining locomotives will undergo the retrofit and approval processes.
“We are pleased to be making a significant contribution to the digitalisation of trans-European freight transport by retrofitting the locomotives. Rail freight transport plays a crucial role in the mobility turnaround – this is where our digital solutions come into perfect play.”
The locomotives, numbered EG 3101–3113, were manufactured by Siemens Mobility in 1999 and 2000.
“By equipping our powerful EG 3100 series locomotives with ETCS equipment, we will also be able to offer climate-friendly, cross-border transport services for our customers in the future.”
DB Cargo AG is receiving funding from the Connecting Europe Facility for this contract. The European Commission says this action will contribute to the increase of the interoperability of the cross-border railway freight transport in the European Union.
