Bulgarian State Railways (BDŽ) has ordered ten Smartron locomotives from Siemens Mobility.
The Smartron locomotive is a preconfigured locomotive, which makes it a more affordable option over the more customised Siemens Vectron, while still being equipped with the Vectron platform technology.
Sabrina Soussan, CEO, Siemens Mobility, said:The Smartron locomotive offers our customers a powerful and reliable product that has been standardised to ensure a simple purchase process and fast delivery. With this order, BDŽ is investing in a locomotive fleet that provides cost-effective service with high operational reliability.
Bulgarian State Railways intends to use its Siemens Smartron locomotives to haul passenger coaches nationally. Siemens Mobility will deliver on the order between February and May 2021. Two previous customers, PIMK and Bulmarket, have ordered Smartron locomotives for Bulgaria, making BDŽ the third.

The Smartron currently has national approvals for Bulgaria, Germany and Romania, following its introduction in 2018.
It is designed for standard-gauge operations and weighs in the region of 83 tons. In Bulgaria the Smartron will run on 25kV AC power. Siemens will deliver the locomotives in their standard ‘capri blue’ colour, after which BDŽ will foil and brand them in line with their desired look.
Since the Smartron was introduced eight years after Siemens first launched the Vectron, 13 customers have purchased units to date.
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