NEW DRS LOCOMOTIVES
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October should see Direct Rail Services take delivery of the first of 15 Class 68 Eurolight locomotives, when 68002 arrives in the UK for testing. The locomotive is one of nine currently under construction at Vossloh’s Valencia factory in Spain.
Meanwhile, the pioneer of the class (68001) will be sent to the Czech Railway Research Institute’s Velim test circuit for extensive testing towards the end of 2013, before being dispatched to the UK.
These tests will confirm haulage capabilities, high-speed performance and braking performance. Engineers from DRS, Vossloh, Caterpillar and ABB will be in attendance.
DRS and Vossloh engineers are using telemetry data from two similar locomotives in use in Germany and Italy. This data is being used to create further understanding of the class and their performance characteristics.
The operator says that ordering the 100mph ‘68s’ “offers the potential for new high-speed freight services”. Also, it says that the “innovative design features include individual axle invertor drives that provide four levels of redundancy, and therefore superior reliability”.
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