InnoTrans 2024 report (27)

While at InnoTrans 2022 Vossloh Rolling Stock (VRS) showed two locomotives - the DE 18 with diesel-electric transmission and the completely new Modula EBB design, in 2024 in Berlin there was one DE 18, but two Modulas - in addition to the already known EBB version there was a surprise Modula BFC (Battery + Fuel Cells).

The locomotive, as yet unnumbered, bore the logos of duisport rail, which currently operates 19 diesel locomotives and which plans to order five Modula BFC machines. These will be used at the new Duisburg Gateway Terminal (DGT), the largest combined transport terminal in Europe's hinterland, which is to be operated in a climate-neutral manner with the help of its own photovoltaic system and hydrogen production.

Vossloh Rolling Stock reports that in developing the Modula BFC variant, solutions were found in close collaboration with CRRC and the user for the capacity of the carbon fibre tanks, the pressure level in the system and for impact resistance. The experience of the parent company CRRC ZELC from existing projects was also used.

The fuel cell provides power either in conjunction with or without a battery. The capacity of the LTO battery, suspended under the main frame, is 160 kWh and provides the locomotive with a power output at the wheel flange of (only) 300 kW. The hydrogen cells have a power of 2 x 200 kW and are located on the roof of the driver's cab, including cooling. The hydrogen technology was supplied by CRRC, and two fuel cells from the Canadian company Ballard Power Systems are used. The locomotive consumes approximately 120 kg of hydrogen per day of operation. 

Within the modular concept of the Modula family, it is also possible to convert an existing BDD locomotive to the BFC version, which should take about four weeks. In addition, the other basic parameters of the Modulas apply to the hydrogen version, i. e. AC/AC power transmission with four IGBT traction inverters and individual power control on the wheelsets. A new control system developed by Vossloh Rolling Stock is installed. The locomotives have a uniform length over the buffers of 18,700 mm and a weight of 84 - 90 t depending on the version. The locomotives can be equipped with DAC couplings, obstacle detection systems and suchlike.

Modula orders

Customers have already ordered locomotives from all four variants of the Modula family, or at least signed a letter of intent. In 2024, assembly and testing of prototypes and pre-series locomotives was underway. As an example, the Modula EBB on display at InnoTrans has been undergoing the type tests required for approval since April 2024, with running tests "going very promisingly" according to the manufacturer.

Specifically, the locomotive, with EVN 90 80 1120 001-5 D-VL, will be used by Rail Force One (RFO), which in December 2019 ordered two machines as the first-ever customer of the Modula family to be deployed on shunting operations at the Port of Rotterdam.

However, this will take some time, as the approval process is dragging on. Type approval of the Modula EBB  is underway in the first phase for operation in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands and was originally expected to be achieved in 2024. It is now einvisaged that approval for Germany should be achieved this year and for Austria and the Netherlands sometime after that. To speed up the process, in addition to the first prototype, which was on display at InnoTrans 2022, six pre-series Class 1020 and 1120 Modulas are to be built. Approval for France, an important market for VRS, is also planned in the subsequent period.

Significant numbers of locomotives of the new family have been ordered so far. In June 2021, Paribus ordered up to 50 Modula EBBs, with deliveries due to start in mid-2024. At the end of 2021, DB Cargo signed a contract for 50 Modula BDDs for delivery from 2024, with an option for up to 200 more.

Of the Modula locomotives in the batch for Paribus (now RIVE), the first announced lessee is RTB Cargo, Aachen, with four ones, for a period of 10 years; the first was to be provided in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the others in early 2025.

One Modula EDD was also ordered by Schweerbau in September 2022. And among the customers is IGE of Hersbruck, which announced at  InnoTrans 2022 its intention to acquire two Modula EBBs. Their delivery is not expected to take place until 2026.

On 20 October 2023, Railpool concluded several framework contracts totalling 45 Modulas with options for a total of 152 more. Deliveries of the firmly ordered machines should take place from mid-2026 until the end of 2027, and any optional ones until mid-2029. In all cases, approval of these locomotives is expected in Germany and the Netherlands.

DE 18

The third exhibit was the DE 18 SmartHybrid (SH) locomotive. Although it was fitted with SPITZKE logo, locomotive 4185 206 is actually destined for Nexrail, whose livery it bears; it was delivered to them in December 2024, after which it is leased to CFL Cargo from March 2025.

In any case, SPITZKE SE ordered ten DE 18 SH locomotives (in March 2024), which are to be delivered between the summer and the end of 2025. They will be used by the subsidiary SLG SPITZKE LOGISTIK in the transport of trains with material or machinery for construction projects of the SPITZKE Group, or they will be offered to other companies in the sector.

SLG SPITZKE LOGISTIK currently has more than twenty diesel locomotives, which include, in addition to older ex-DR machines that have been upgraded, two Type G 18 diesel-hydraulic locomotives (built 2015), as well as two Vectron Dual Mode locomotives (2023).

Type DE 18 received approval for Italy from ERA in June 2021, followed in April 2023 with that for DE 18 Stage V. In December 2024, ERA granted two types of the DE 18 locomotives - the DE 18 Stage V and the DE 18 Stage V SmartHybrid - with the homologation for France, Belgium and  Luxembourg. A version with the on-board ETCS Level 2 is also currently being approved for France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, which should be awarded in 2025.

From 2010 to April 2025, a total of 223 Type DE 18 locomotives have been produced. Among the various customers with a few locomotives or smaller batches (e. g. CFL Cargo with ten machines in 2017 or BBL Logistic with fifteen machines in 2024), Akiem (49 locomotives) and Nexrail (55 locomotives) stand out.