CZ LOKO completed the delivery of five EffiShunter 1000 locomotives to the Italian company MERCITALIA Shunting & Terminal (MIST) belonging to Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane. This group, still under its previous name Serfer Servizi Ferroviari (SERFER), announced a tender for five shunting locomotives.
“The implementation of this contract has both a strategic and symbolic value for CZ LOKO. Although CZ LOKO has supplied almost 60 locomotives of various classes to the Italian market, these were always just upgrades. Now, for the first time, we have succeeded with a new vehicle meeting strict European TSI standards. We managed to prove that the new concept of CZ LOKO vehicles will withstand fierce competition pervading in the field of locomotive development and production. And symbolically, the 744.105-8 locomotive is the thousandth product of the company’s modern history” said Josef Gulyás, Managing Director of CZ LOKO.
The official handover of the entire series took place on 11 June 2018 in Turin. Physically, however, the locomotives were delivered to the depot in Udine, where we also provided necessary training of the operating staff. These locomotives will be used primarily for shunting service at important logistics centres in Milan, Ravenna and Livorno. This is related to the main activity of the new operator, which is the provision of shunting, both as part of the parent holding and contractually to external customers. From the end of 2018, the locomotives are expected to join line service as well.
Operation in Italy is tied to a number of adjustments according to the specifications of the local legislation and specific requirements of the customer. For example, the locomotives are now equipped with the BL3 fire and security system. These adjustments, together with the TSI certificate, eventually allowed the Italian National Railway Safety Agency (ANSF) to grant the EffiShunter 1000 class an approval for shunting service on the whole network operated by the Italian railway infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI).
It was important to obtain a type approval from the Railway Authority as well as an internationally recognized TSI certificate issued by the Railway Research Institute as a Notified Body. This key document enables accelerated approval in all countries of the European Union. It demonstrates the compliance of the EffiShunter 1000 product series with the major European standards.
“As a result, it is no longer necessary to carry out authorization procedures in individual countries in the full extent, only within national specifications” said Josef Gulyás.
EffiShunter 1000 is a modern four-axle locomotive with asynchronous power transfer (AC/AC). Thanks to the individually controlled traction motor power, the locomotive achieves high performance with reduced consumption, running costs, emissions and noise. The maximum speed is 100 km/h, but the undercarriage design is suited for even higher speeds. CZ LOKO plans to build a new base of its production portfolio on the EffiShunter 1000 platform, which will completely replace upgrades of older locomotives in the future.
One of the Italian EffiShunters, 744.105-8, will be officially presented at the InnoTrans 2018 international railway trade fair as the thousandth manufactured railway vehicle in the modern history of CZ LOKO.
The success on the Italian market is based on the subsidiary CZ LOKO Italia, which develops business activities in Italy, ensures the availability of spare parts and provides service for more than 60 locomotives from CZ LOKO production.