SBB Cargo will put ten new high-performance locomotives in service today. They are intended for the cross-border freight transport Germany-Switzerland. The roll-out marks one of the most important milestones in the strategy of SBB Cargo, targeted at a growing North-South-traffic and the shift of transport from road to rail. The locomotives have cost a total of CHF 45 million and were delivered by Bombardier Transportation.

The roll-out of the ten locomotives is more than just the delivery of new freight locomotives for the cross-border transport, said Daniel Nordmann, head of SBB Cargo, today: "It is the roll-out of a new SBB Cargo!"

Milestone on the way to becoming an international quality provider
The new locomotives are intended mainly for operation on the Cologne-Switzerland(-Italy) -Axis. At the end of June 2002, SBB Cargo together with Häfen- und Güterverkehr Köln (HGK) will create the subsidiary company Swiss Rail Cargo Köln (SRC Köln). This will enable SBB to provide cross-border transport on this European freight transport axis under their own single responsibility. SBB will, thus, meet one of the major requirements of the shipping industry.

SBB Cargo also intends to further develop the excellent Cupertino with Deutsche Bahn. SBB is determined to increase the volume on the North-South-Axis, thus, contributing to shifting the freight transport from the road to the rail.

Buying off the peg
The new locomotive type Re 482, which is being built at Bombardier's plant in Kassel, is a dual-system vehicle that can be operated both on the Swiss and on the German network, making the locomotive change-over at the border unnecessary. The purchase "off the peg" ramifies not only into a relatively reasonable price, but also into a record-breaking delivery time.

The locomotives are part of Bombardier Transportation's modular locomotive family, which has proven extraordinarily reliable in many years of service. The modular concept does not only allow for short delivery times, but also for a very flexible adjustment to various regional and operational requirements. In preparing the vehicles for the current and all future train control systems, Bombardier, as the global leader in the rail equipment industry, makes an active contribution to a "freight transport without borders" in Europe.