THE Board of Swedish iron-ore producer LKAB has approved a SKr 1bn ($US 158m) project to increase the capacity of its heavy-haul rail operations in northern Sweden by 35% to 40 million tonnes a year by 2015 as it plans to open three more iron-ore mines. To achieve this, LKAB will acquire another four IORE electric locomotives from Bombardier to expand the fleet to 17. LKAB has also placed a SKr 400m contract with Kockums Industrier, Sweden, for 300 wagons to add to the 800 already in service.
THE Board of Swedish iron-ore producer LKAB has approved a SKr 1bn ($US 158m) project to increase the capacity of its heavy-haul rail operations in northern Sweden by 35% to 40 million tonnes a year by 2015 as it plans to open three more iron-ore mines. To achieve this, LKAB will acquire another four IORE electric locomotives from Bombardier to expand the fleet to 17. LKAB has also placed a SKr 400m contract with Kockums Industrier, Sweden, for 300 wagons to add to the 800 already in service.
The wagons will be delivered by the end of 2013 and the locomotives will be supplied between May 2013 and March 2014. This will enable LKAB to increase the number of trains in service each day from 15 to 20. Each 750m-long train consists of 68 wagons carrying 6800 tonnes of iron-ore.
The double-unit IORE locomotives are said to be the most powerful in the world with a tractive effort of 1200kN, and a 10.8MW power output at the wheels. The locomotives have an axleload of 30 tonnes.