Talleres Alegría introduces its pocket wagon

Following the ERA certification issued on 18 September 2023, the Spanish manufacturer Talleres Alegría, based in Llanera, Asturias, has started to present a pocket wagon that is the result of its own development.

This type will be one of those used in Spain's „rail highways“ (autopistas ferroviarias) project, a system designed to transport semi-trailers on defined corridors across Spain. Due to the continuing proportion of 1,435 mm gauge lines in the country, the wagons must be capable of operating on this gauge as well as on 1,668 mm gauge. The intention is to allow the carriage of standard non-craneable semi-trailers, and therefore some kind of adapters are required when selecting the standard type of pocket wagon.

Ermewa currently has an order for 50 Talleres Alegría wagons, with deliveries due to arrive in the first quarter of 2024, these to be used with the NiKRASA system, version 3.0. The Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Affairs has granted Ermewa support totalling 17.3 million EUR, not only for these 50 wagons, but also for another 150 wagons for transporting steel coils.

In October, one Talleres Alegría-built pocket wagon (Sdggmrss 32 71 4956 236) equipped with the latter module appeared on the public network, and on 20 November, a test was carried out with the NiKRASA module in conjunction with the wagon at the Can Tunis terminal in Barcelona.

For the „rail highways“ project, VTG has ordered 200 pocket wagons built by Tatravagónka, which will be used with the road2Link system that VTG has been using and presenting for the last few years. In this case, the wagons selected are of the T4000 type, a new development of the manufacturer, essentially a T3000e wagon modified to swap wheelsets between 1,435 and 1,668 mm gauges. Prototype wagon of this type has been exhibited at the recent InnoTrans and Transport Logistics trade fairs, certification of this type is expected very soon and deliveries will then start. Renfe Mercancías is currently tendering for 75 pocket wagons.

The Talleres Alegría wagon is 34.20 m long over the buffers and has a tare weight of 36.2 t. This means that there is a new European manufacturer of standard pocket wagon. Tatravagónka is currently the dominant player in this field, while Kolowag supplies its own version, Nymwag CS introduced its own simplified design last year and Astra Rail Industry (Greenbrier Europe) also has a long tradition of producing this type of wagon, TWIN family in this case.