Captrain employs a Gama Marathon electric locomotive

The turn of the year is a good time to test new solutions, so we decided to follow the momentum and put another type of locomotive into operation. We are pleased to announce that Captrain Polska started cooperation with Rail Capital Partners and leased the Gama Marathon 111Ed-018 locomotive. The locomotive is dedicated to intermodal transport and we are proud to be the first in Poland to use a locomotive produced by PESA for RCP as part of an intermodal project co-financed by the CUPT. Thanks to the auxiliary diesel engine, we count on cost optimization and a significant improvement in the quality and timeliness of deliveries to our customers. The locomotive was put into service immediately and on the day of collection, December 15, it pulled its first intermodal train from Frankfurt to Brzeg Dolny.

Among the interesting facts about this type of locomotive, it should be mentioned that it was produced in the PESA Bydgoszcz, which designed several variants of locomotives under the common name of Gama. Electric and diesel vehicles are offered for both freight and passenger traffic.

The first model from the Gama family is the 111Ed Marathon locomotive. The construction of the locomotive began in 2012 and it was presented for the first time on September 18 at InnoTrans 2012 in Berlin. The first trials took place in October 2012 at the Bydgoszcz Wschód Towarowa station, and later on the lines to Inowrocław, Poznań and Zduńska Wola Karsznice, concluding on November 25, 2012. Performance of the locomotive when driving on its own and under various loads as well as other metrics were measured. From November 2012 to December 2012, Gama was tested on the track in Żmigród, where it reached a top speed of 173 km / h during the tests.

After successfully completing all the legally required trials, it was commissioned for running passenger trains at speeds of up to 160 km / h and freight trains up to 140 km / h. The locomotive is a 4-axle electric unit with a power of 5,600 kW and a voltage of 3 kV DC. Additionally, an auxiliary 405 kW diesel engine (Caterpillar) with 420 kW DC generator was installed.

When running on the diesel engine, the maximum operating speed is 40 km / h (76 km / h during tests without wagons). The capacity of the fuel tank is 1000 liters. The process of switching the vehicle from electric to diesel engine takes 5 minutes.