RAIL Cargo Hungary (RCH) has confirmed that two CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive-built electro-hybrid centre cab class 461 shunting locomotives will enter traffic next year.

Two 140km/h Bo-Bo 5.6MW ‘Bison’ battery-electric mainline locomotives will also enter traffic with RCH in 2022 the operator confirmed on September 24.

Testing with the first shunting locomotive has been underway at the VUZ train test centre near Velim, Czech Republic, since early-August.

The 18.3m-long Bo-Bo 100km/h shunting locomotives weight 72.2 tonnes and have a single pantograph on top of its cabin roof for energy supply from the overhead wires to operate and to charge the last-mile battery pack.

The shunter’s battery pack power is 350kWh while it takes 2.5 hours to fully charge the battery from the overhead line.

Unlike the Bison, which is a multi-country locomotive, the shunting locomotive will only be authorised for operation in Hungary.

RCH will lease the units for an initial four years, after which it can either extend the lead or purchase the locomotives outright. RCH also has the option to order up to 20 of each locomotive type.

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