VR to buy 60 diesel locomotives from Stadler

National Railway operator VR Group has decided to buy 60 new diesel locomotives from Stadler.

The value of the transaction is approximately EUR 200 million, said a VR press release on Monday.

The agreement between VR Group and Stadler will be finalised during April. The manufacturing stage will start once the agreement is signed, followed by thorough testing and, finally, deployment.

The new locomotives will be mainly used in freight traffic. In addition to improving the efficiency of shunting work, they will boost operations on non-electrified railway sections.

The first new diesel locomotives will start operating in 2022 and the rest will be delivered to Finland by 2025.

These locomotives will gradually replace the diesel locomotives manufactured in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

The transaction also includes an option for 100 additional locomotives, as well as the possibility to buy locomotive maintenance from Stadler.

“The new locomotives will benefit Finnish industry, as they will be mainly used in freight traffic. They will also improve the environmental friendliness of rail transport, as the new model clearly outperforms the old diesel locomotives in terms of emissions and energy efficiency,” said VR Group’s President and CEO Rolf Jansson.

“We want our diesel locomotives to be new, modern, top-of-the-line locomotives in addition to being more efficient, safe and reliable. For customers, this means improved service reliability,” said Senior Vice President Martti Koskinen from VR Transpoint.

Diesel locomotives are still needed, as the majority of the shunting yard tracks, as well as about 45% of the Finnish railway network are non-electrified.

“The number of locomotives purchased at this point is 60, which is planned to cover our future need for diesel locomotives. We believe that the demand for diesel locomotives will drop from the current nearly 200 due to electrification of lines and the auxiliary diesel capability of our Sr3 locomotive. However, the acquisition includes an option for an additional 100 locomotives. Whether we will use this option depends largely on the rate of electrification of railway lines in the future,” said Jansson.