[DE] Harsco Rail to deliver hybrid UTVs to Deutsche Bahn

Big news from the United States: Pennsylvania-based Harsco Rail will be delivering network maintenance vehicles to DB Netz AG – the railway infrastructure manager of Germany. The new machinery will feature a hybrid drive in order to comply with DB’s policy of carbon footprint reduction.

DB Netz has been looking to replace its aging fleet with environmentally-friendly machinery. On 16.09.2019 Harsco Corporation announced starting a new business relationship with Deutsche Bahn:

Up to 56 catenary intervention and maintenance vehicles will be delivered from the US to Germany over a period of seven years. A first call-off comprises sixteen vehicles, wioth delivery from 2022 onwards. The entire project is valued at EUR 262.8 million.

“Harsco Rail has significantly invested in Europe to develop market-leading technologies with superior execution capability and to establish a robust supply chain to offer the most innovative Utility Track Vehicles in the market today. We appreciate Deutsche Bahn’s confidence in Harsco Rail as a trusted partner to provide state-of-the-art vehicles and are excited about the opportunity to further our growth ambitions.” – Jeswant Gill, president of Harsco Rail

About the vehicles

Graphic: DB

According to Harsco, its Utility Track Vehicle (UTV) offers competitive technologies that reduce both emissions and noise. It is hybrid, with an electric-electric and a diesel-electric drive line. The machines will be able to work up to two hours solely on battery power. They will feature ETCS and a ‘natural refrigerant’-cooled air conditioning system. The UTV’s top speed is set to 140 km/h.

Harsco and SBB

There is another important Harsco project in Europe; The Swiss railways (SBB) previously ordered thirteen maintenance vehicles from the North American company for its tunnel maintenance trains. You can read more about the project in our dedicated article.

 

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