OLAVION, a Polish rail freight carrier of the fuels and energy group Unimot, is strengthening its modern fleet. It has received the first out of eight modern DC locomotives with a combustion engine for last-mile shunting, manufactured by Polish rolling stock producer Pesa. The biggest locomotive leasing company in Central and Eastern Europe, CARGOUNIT will provide the Gama Marathon locomotives.
As a long-term customer of CARGOUNIT, OLAVION already leases some of the 186 locomotives in the fleet of CARGOUNIT. However, the new additions will bring operational benefits. While usually performing under catenary, Pesa Gama Marathon locomotives can perform shunting at sidings and terminals with the same locomotive, thanks to a Stage V-compliant combustion engine with a power output of 480 kW. According to the manufacturer, this enables pushing or pulling a train weighing 3,200 tonnes on maximum gradients of up to 7‰. This last-mile module saves time and money and significantly enhances efficiency for rail freight carriers. OLAVION will use new locomotives to transport its main commodities: fuels, gas, tars and other chemicals, steel, cement, cereals, wood, coal, and ores.
CARGOUNIT ordered 10 of these locomotives (111Ed) at the end of October 2022. Part of the agreement was the option for 20 more locomotives. This option has been confirmed, and by the end of 2023, the fleet of 111Ed Gama Marathon locomotives at CARGOUNIT should reach twenty.
CARGOUNIT, owned by the Three Seas Investment Initiative Fund (3 Seas IIF), is steadily growing its fleet of modern locomotives. Last year, its multi-system Siemens Vectron locomotives entered passenger service between Poland and Germany. The company also grew to the Romanian market in 2022, where it leases two AC Siemens Smartron locomotives and has ordered four more. Three Alstom TRAXX DC3 locomotives complement the modern fleet, along with three Newag Griffin and four Alstom TRAXX MS2e locomotives. The leasing company’s biggest order of modern electrics is the framework agreement for 30 multisystem Siemens Vectron locomotives, which are being continuously delivered.