ERA Type Approval For DE18 Locomotives In Italy

On 1 June 2021, Vossloh Locomotives was awarded type approval by ERA for the Type DE18 locomotive in Italy. This is the first news to be officially announced by Vossloh Locomotives in a year since the Kiel-based manufacturer was taken over by CRRC on 29 May 2020.

With this approval, Vossloh Locomotives is further enhancing interoperability of its four-axle universal diesel locomotive, which was introduced in 2014. As of today, more than 130 of DE18s are working on the European rails.

With the implementation of the 4th Railway Package, the EU Railway Agency took over responsibility for issuing vehicle authorisations: „This first ERA approval for one of our locomotives is an important milestone for us,“ stressed Dr. Bernd Hoppe, Executive Director and General Manager of Vossloh Locomotives. „I’d like to thank all the employees for the dedication they showed in working so closely with the EU Railway Agency, the Italian safety authority ANSFISA and the infrastructure manager RFI in order to ensure the new approval process requirements were met.“

All the Italian DE 18s are equipped with the Italian SCMT/SSC ATP as well as on-board ETCS. Furthermore, the locomotives benefit from the well-established IMATEQ maintenance ECM-certified facility in Rivalta Scrivia. 

At the moment eight DE18s are operating in Italy: two of them are used by CAPTRAIN and six by other operators (Vossloh Locomotives did not clarified  their names). On 11 June 2021, Vossloh Locomotives signed letter of intent for another locomotive and is in the final discussion with another national operator for one DE 18.