PKP Cargo is the largest freight operator in Poland. According to published data in 2018, an operator transported over 120 million tons of cargo. PKP Cargo has over 2,500 diesel and electric locomotives in various series. The most popular are the locomotives series: ET22, ET41, ET42, SM42, and ST44. They are all locomotives that were manufactured in the 20th century (average age is around 40 years).
In March 2015 PKP Cargo decided to buy new multi-system locomotives (an order included 15 locomotives with the right to purchase an additional five locos). The winner of the tender was Siemens, which offered the Vectron locomotive. At the turn of the summer/autumn that year, it was necessary to decide with which livery the Vectrons should be produced. In between these two moments, several things within the PKP Group changed, resulting in a ‘colorful’ confusion that affected the design of the PKP Cargo Vectrons. So what happened? Lukasz Piotrowski (aka Mr. Pitagoras) explains:
Structural changes within the PKP Cargo Group
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