InnoTrans 2024 report (16)

PESA and the Swedish companies Väte Rail and Hankavik have signed a letter of intent on 26 September regarding the introduction of hydrogen shunting locomotives in Sweden. The companies will also cooperate in providing customers with hydrogen refueling infrastructure and creating entire H2 systems, with the production of hydrogen from green energy sources.

Väte Rail of Malmö is an operator that in August 2024 signed a contract with the steel producer SSAB to provide shunting work of steel trains in Borlänge and Oxelösund works for five years from 1 January 2025; until now this shunting is carried out by Green Cargo. The latter retains the shunting in Luleå.

Väte Rail handles wagon shunting in Trelleborg and several other places in the country and has been running freight trains between Göteborg and Ånge via Hallsberg and Sundsvall for more than a year and since June 2024 freight trains between Göteborg  and Haparanda via Umeå and Sundsvall. Väte Rail had a turnover of 190 million SEK (aroudn 16.6 million EUR) in 2023, reported a profit of 5.5 million SEK (around 0.5 million EUR) and currently has just over 100 permanent and temporary staff.

Väte Rail will need four locomotives for both Borlänge and Oxelösund shunting, so it will rent six locomotives in order to have one locomotive in reserve at each place (Green Cargo so far is using Class T44 locomotives there). The recent contract with Väte Rail assumes the decarbonization of shunting work by 2030, and Väte Rail has decided to use the PESA hydrogen locomotives. The Swedes flew to Poland to test the SM42-6Dn 001 prototype in real operating conditions during shunting work on the siding of Orlen at Inowrocław.

The third partner of the agreement, Hankavik of Stockholm, is the vehicle pool that offers locomotives and drivers for rent to various operators since 2012. It is responsible for organizing and financing the rolling stock for Väte Rail. We asked what type for six diesel locomotives will Väte Rail have from 1 January 2025, but we did not receive an answer. Hankavik will also be responsible for introducing the hydrogen locomotives to the Swedish market. Its representatives started talks with PESA and will order one SM42-6Dn. We asked at PESA, if this will be the existing prototype or SM42-6Dn 002, if it will be delivered to Sweden in 2025, and used at Borlänge or Oxelösund, but we didn't get an answer.

The Class SM42-6Dn is the first hydrogen locomotive on the European market that has been approved for operation (in Poland only). It is powered by two 85 kW hydrogen fuel cells and has four asynchronous traction motors with a total power of 720 kW.

Using the experience gathered so far, PESA has started in 2024 work on the design of a new Loco 2H platform, which also includes a version with a pantograph for Polish market, as shown on the picture. If Väte Rail will be saitisfied with the results of the SM42-6Dn in Sweden, hauling trains weighing up to 1,400 tonnes, it will order the Loco 2Hs (number not specified), without the pantograph.

The Loco 2H for Väte Rail will have  a maximum speed of 120 km/h and four 255 kW asynchronous traction motors. The maximum traction force will be 300 kN. Its prototype to be built in Bydgoszcz is to be ready at the turn of 2026/27 and it is scheduled to start operating at the turn of 2027/28. We asked, when the remaining hydrogen locomotives will be delivered, but again, we didn't get an answer.

It is worth noting that on 26 September 2024, Alstom and SSAB have entered a partnership for the supply of steel made with close to zero fossil carbon emissions to be used in first TRAXX Shunter locomotives,