CSP Logitren opts for diesels, waits for infrastructure improvements

València-based COSCO Shipping subsidiary CSP Logitren is perhaps a bit unusual among private railfreight operators in Spain. Its motive power fleet is composed entirely of five diesel locomotives.

Oner reason for favouring diesel motive power is the network operated by Logitren, linking port terminals in València and Bilbao with Madrid and Zaragoza, the key routes being Madrid to València and València to Vitoria-Gasteiz (Jundiz) and Bilbao. A key component in this diamond-shaped network is the line from Sagunt to Teruel and Zaragoza, which is currently being electrified, and which was invaluable for freight traffic during early November 2024, following the destruction of much of the rail network in the València area on account of flooding caused by the DANA at the end of October. At that time most railfreight operators, were unable to take advantage of the line via Teruel, on account of not having a sufficient number of diesels.

In June 2023 Logitren became the first Spanish operator to place an order with Stader for EURO4001 locomotives, the successor to the EURO4000 design, modified to be powered by four-stroke Caterpillar C175-16 prime movers instead of the two-stroke EMD 16-710 G3C-U2 model, installed in the EURO4000 series. The Caterpillar model complies with EURO V emission standards and is also installed in Adif’s Class 336 locomotives, as well as in Stadler’s EURODUAL series.

The first of the Co’Co’, 160 km/h EURO4001s, appropriately named Valencia, was delivered in mid-December 2024, the other will be delivered in early 2025. In addition to conventional diesel fuel, it is capable of using alternative fuels, such as hydro-treated vegetable oil, to reduce noxious emissions. Logitren’s other fleet members consist of three Class 335s, 905, 027 and 028, on lease from Alpha Trains.

Until Logitren’s order, the only ones for EURO4001s had been placed by Captrain France and Portren of Uruguay. Logitren does not envisage placing any new locomotive orders during 2025, and there are no plans at present to purchase EURO6000s.

According to the operator: ‘We have an investment plan which we will develop according to how business in Spain evolves and how investment programmes in rail infrastructure progress... The infrastructure has to be improved to permit us to expand... On our routes we use either diesel or electro-diesel locomotives, and we must use motive power which allows us to fulfil our duties. If in the future (EURO 6000s) prove suitable for the routes we operate, then the company will order them."