The new Northrail/RIVE order for 15 locomotives includes 8-year-long full-service maintenance, while the framework agreement mentions 50 locomotives with a 16-year-long full-service package.
Traxx Universal, a new name used for former MS3 multisystem locomotives by Alstom, is a new brand used for Alstom’s locomotives equipped with its own ATLAS ETCS system. They can run trains with a maximum speed of up to 160 km/h in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Poland.
Starting in 2025, the Kassel plant of Alstom will start delivering locomotives from this order, finally bringing more diversity to the Vectron-dominated European market. Siemens Mobility has recently started its multisystem Vectron tests in France, and having Traxx Universal already approved in France is an advantage Alstom wants to benefit from. This step was long-awaited as the former Bombardier product, the Traxx platform, suffered from the Alstom takeover and the inability to get the multisystem locomotive approved in more countries. With its own Atlas ETCS (instead of Bombardier’s Ebicab), this problem seems to be resolved. And while Siemens with Vectron and Stadler with Euro9000 focus on the north-south European axis, Alstom bets on the west-east axis. After ten locomotives for CFL Cargo ordered in 2020, Northrail is the second company ordering multisystem Traxxes with this country package.
