Swedish freight carrier buys two engines from Romanian manufacturer

Swedish railway freight operator Green Cargo signed a contract with the Romanian manufacturer of electric locomotives and frames Softronic Craiova for the delivery of two Transmontana engines in the summer of 2018, reports local Economica.net. A Softronic Transmontana locomotive can pull up to 3,000 tons, double the capacity of a four-axle electric of the Rc series, a commonly operated locomotive type in Sweden, railcolornews.com reported. The acquisition is part of Green Cargo’s strategy to reduce transport costs. The engine was tested before purchase in the summer of 2015, in Sweden. The engines have a guaranteed operational life of 3 years, and a life span of 40 years. They come with an advanced power system, able to operate at both 25 kV 50 Hz (in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia) and at 15 kV 16⅔ Hz (in Austria and Sweden). It can reach speeds of up to 200 km per hour. Softronic also sold two locomotives to German group DB Schenker in December 2015. Softronic had in 2016 a turnover of RON 54.9 million (EUR 12.2 million), down from RON 58.2 million (EUR 12.9 million) in the previous year. Its net profit increased to RON 1.28 million (EUR 284,444) in 2016, compared to only RON 208,000 (EUR 46,200) in 2015, according to data from the Finance Ministry. editor@romania-insider.com