Railpool orders 42 locomotives from Bombardier and Siemens - Source: Railpool GmbH
Railpool is further expanding its fleet of locomotives. Yesterday the Munich-based rail rolling stock leasing company ordered a total of 42 locomotives from Bombardier and Siemens which will be delivered until mid-2013. 36 of these locomotives are the well established TRAXX models from Bombardier Transportation, whilst a further 6 locomotives will be supplied by Siemens Mobility. This is the first order for Siemens' newly developed Vectron generation.
Railpool intends to meet rising demand for leased locomotives with its latest investment. The company has been able to steadily expand its business over the past two years despite the economic crisis. Rail freight has grown much faster than expected during the economic recovery. In Germany alone, transport volumes in the rail freight transport sector had risen by 16.7% by the third quarter of 2010 compared with the previous year.
The joint venture between HSH Nordbank and KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH is now well established in the marketplace some two years since its formation in July 2008 and has grown to become one of the leading players. In addition to passenger transport vehicles, Railpool's portfolio currently includes now 100 modern electric locomotives.
"Thanks to the increasing privatisation of the European rail system, demand for rail vehicles from private rail operators is growing at a steady pace. Railpool is able to satisfy this demand. Railpool allows us to not only offer our European customers finance and leasing services, but also to provide a full-service package including maintenance and fleet management", explains Torsten Temp, Member of the Managing Board of HSH Nordbank and responsible for the market devisions Shipping, Transport and Energy.
"Strengthening the transport infrastructure is a core task for KfW IPEX-Bank. Our concept of covering the growing demand for leased locomotives by our own leasing company has been a great success. The new expansion in our locomotive fleet illustrates this resoundingly," says Christian K. Murach, Member of the Management Board of KfW IPEX-Bank, of the deal.
"This is the second locomotive order placed in just over two years by Railpool as a relatively young company. This means that we now have a locomotive pool of 100 units and can thus continue to satisfy market demand. In addition to the well established TRAXX locomotives with a number of innovations, the portfolio also includes Siemens' newly developed Vectron. This demonstrates that Railpool is also open to new developments," says Dr Walter Breinl, Railpool's CEO.
Source: Railpool GmbH