Alstom to deliver 13 TRAXX3 MS locomotives to CLIP Intermodal

On 25 March 2024 Alstom and CLIP Intermodal have announced the signing of contract for the supply of 13 TRAXX3 MS locomotives. They will be fitted for operation in France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Austria and Poland. The Alstom site in Kassel will be responsible for the final assembly, while the bodyshells will be manufactured at the Alstom facility in Wrocław. More details were not disclosed, however this means the same version of these locomotives as in case of those, which CFL Cargo recently put in service. These are now allowed to operate in Poland, Germany and Luxembourg, with Austria hoped to come later this year and Belgium and France not expected until 2025.

CLIP Intermodal is a Polish company specialised in intermodal transport, belonging to CLIP Group. It operates intermodal terminal in Swarzędz, near Poznań, which following its upgrade has eight reloading tracks, with an annual capacity of over 1 million TEU. Own fleet of CLIP Intermodal accounts to 500 intermodal wagons, however it is for the very first time the company invests in its own locomotives.

The Swarzędz terminal is the destination of one of the intermodal services on which CFL Cargo deploys its TRAXX3 MS locomotives. It is therefore possible that these locomotives will be used together to some extent.

Orders for the TRAXX3 MS locomotive have thus increased again. According to Alstom's answer, the contracts to date are as follows:
- TX Logistik 40 locomotives with an option for 25, the contract has been cancelled,
- ČD Cargo 49 locomotives,
- RegioJet 31 locomotives,
- CFL Cargo 10 locomotives,
- PCC Intermodal 4 locomotives,
- SNCB 24 (from the framework contract for 50 locomotives),
- Akiem 10 (originally for lease to ISC),
- Northrail 15 (from a framework contract for 50 locomotives),
- Akiem 65 (TRAXX Universal, from a framework contract for 100 locomotives),
- Railpool 50 (TRAXX Universal),
- ARF 16 locomotives,
- Clip Group 13 locomotives.

In the case of the ARF order, it is interesting that the locomotives are intended to run only under the 25 kV 50 Hz system, but the MS3 version has been ordered. In response to our enquiry, the ARF stated that it did not ask for multi-system locomotives but they were offered by the manufacturer as a bonus. We did not learn more about the reasons (ARF referred us to Alstom, which did not answer the question), but the requirement to operate at speeds of up to 200 km/h could be an explanation (although ARF does not immediately insist on it, as this speed will not be achievable in Romania for a long time). For Alstom, however, this order is another (second) reference for the new TRAXX for 200 km/h, which has yet to be approved.