Renfe has awarded Stadler Rail the supply of twelve high-power, standard-gauge electric locomotives, which will be used for traffic on the Mediterranean Corridor. In addition, it will be in charge of its maintenance for fifteen years. The amount of the contract is 136 million euros.
(10/03/2023)
The delivery period for the twelve new locomotives ends on December 31, 2025, while the maintenance service will last for a period of fifteen years. Once they are received, Renfe Mercancías will use them to cover the services it will provide in the Mediterranean Corridor. Adif is currently installing the UIC standard gauge on this infrastructure, which will mean increasing the maximum length of freight trains to 750 meters.
The acquisition of this rolling stock will allow the operator to take advantage of new growth opportunities due to the possibility of increasing national and international traffic. Part of the amount allocated to this contract will be financed by the European Union, which has awarded a fifteen million euro grant for this project, within the framework of the Next Generation Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
Energy efficiency
With the commissioning of these locomotives, Renfe Mercancías considers that it will take full advantage of the new infrastructures. They also explain that greater efficiency will be obtained from transport plans through a more adjusted energy consumption, the use of non-polluting energy, less aggressiveness towards the road, a low noise level, the absence of vibrations, the greater load capacity and the best levels of reliability.
The operator estimates that another of the benefits of increasing its activity is cost savings due to externalities, since the railway is the mode of transport that generates the least polluting emissions. Renfe Mercancías saved society 291 million euros in external costs in 2021, by avoiding the circulation of 2.4 million trucks.