MSC has ordered 15 new electric locomotives to expand its rail fleet at its newest MEDWAY branch in Belgium.
The company said that the new locomotives will increase capability at the Northwest Continent terminal and will be employed for cross-border freight transport in Europe as well as supplementing container transport by ship in serving the eastern hinterland of Antwerp.
Salvatore Prudente, executive director of MEDWAY, commented, “MSC continues to invest at a European level via its MEDWAY arm to strengthen its intermodal offering, improving its capacity to serve clients not only with its core deep-sea solutions, but also inland. Improving these areas provides our customers with a portfolio of services and solutions designed to simplify and support their supply chain.”
The Vectron MS locomotives, manufactured by Siemens Mobility, have a top speed of 160 km/h.
“With their record for reliability and flexibility, our Vectron locomotives enable sustainable cross-border freight transport throughout Europe,” pointed out Albrecht Neumann, CEO of Rolling Stock at Siemens Mobility.
The new locomotives will be deployed within an East-West geographical scope with the aim to improve connections and capacity between Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Austria and Poland, and landlocked central and Eastern areas such as Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Falling under MSC’s inland logistics partner MEDLOG, MEDWAY Belgium operates as a licensed freight rail operator in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria and began operations in July 2022.
