BELGIAN National Railways (SNCB) has awarded Alstom a framework agreement to manufacture up to 50 third-generation Traxx electric locomotives.
The first firm order worth €120m is for 24 200km/h multi-system locomotives. This covers the design, manufacture and certification of the units, with deliveries expected to commence in 2026.
The new locomotives will haul both domestic and cross-border trains, and will operate into the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany, including on a number of high-speed lines.
The multi-system locomotive will be able to operate on 1.5kV dc in the Netherlands, 3kV dc in Belgium, 15kV ac in Germany and 25 kV ac in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Alstom says the locomotives will also be equipped with ETCS level 2 as well as TBL1+ signalling for Belgium, ATB for the Netherlands and LZB/PZB for Germany.
Alstom says the third-generation of Traxx features higher energy efficiency while maintenance intervals have been extended by 33% to improve availability and reduce maintenance burden.
The locomotive was designed in Mannheim and will be manufactured at Alstom’s Kassel facility in Germany. Bogies will be provided by the Siegen site in Germany, while the body shell will be manufactured in Wroclaw, Poland. Alstom’s Charleroi site will provide the national signalling systems and ETCS level 2.
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