Think Railways

Alstom handed over a H₃ hybrid locomotive to Volkswagen (VW) during a ceremony at Alstom’s Stendal site in Scaxony-Anhalt, Germany, where the locomotives were built. This new generation of hybrid shunting locomotive will be used at Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg plant for zero-emission freight transport, making a sustainable contribution towards reducing CO₂ emissions. Alstom is in charge of maintaining the locomotives for a period of 10 years.

In comparison with conventional shunters, the new H₃ shunting locomotive with its hybrid drive produces up to 50% lessCO₂ , while pollutant emissions overall are cut by up to 70%. Noise emissions have also been significantly reduced. The 350 kW diesel generator meets the requirements of exhaust gas standard stage IIIB and has been designed with future exhaust gas standards in mind. Depending on its use, the shunting locomotive will spend between 50% and 75% of its service time in battery mode. This makes it possible to achieve zero-emission rail transport in urban areas or production halls. The locomotive reaches maximum speeds of 100 km/h and can therefore easily be integrated in main line traffic³.

“With this environmentally friendly hybrid concept, Alstom’s Stendal site has proven its innovative prowess once again. Zero-emission freight transport will play an increasingly important role in sustainable CO₂ reduction worldwide. I offer my congratulations for this unique and robust vehicle and wish Alstom many successful projects on the German and international markets,” said Klaus Schmotz, Lord Mayor of the town of Stendal.

The introduction of the new generation of traction vehicles replaces the cost-intensive maintenance and repair of the existing locomotive fleet. “Volkswagen is reducing CO₂ emissions on the roads and, with the new hybrid locomotive, on the railways too. We anticipate savings of 45 percent of fuel and 25 tons of CO₂ emissions.  The new hybrid loco contributes to from Volkswagen’s sustainability objective; to achieve a 25% reduction of the environmental impact in the manufacturing area by 2018. Thanks to its frequent operation in battery mode, the level of noise is also significantly reduced,” commented Kristina Mennecke, head of the industrial railroads of Volkswagen AG upon receiving the new hybrid locomotive in Stendal.

Volkswagen and Alstom are already connected in a long-lasting technology-partnership on the area of hybrid shunting locomotives. In a pilot project, Volkswagen used retrofitted shunters with hybrid drive from Alstom. The operating experiences from these locos paved the way of the development of the new H₃ platform.

“Alstom is pleased to hand over the third new H₃ shunting locomotive to Volkswagen today after receiving orders of eight more from Audi, DB Regio Franken and Mitteldeutsche Eisenbahn Gesellschaft. Alstom is now ready for in-series production to address the needs of companies wishing to opt for zero-emission freight transport,” commented Ralf Materzok, Managing Director of Alstom Lokomotiven Service GmbH.