Eastern Europe prefers electric locomotives
Despite climate commitments and decarbonisation strategies, the European market for electric locomotives is showing rather mixed results. Significant growth can only be expected in the east, while demand in Western Europe will even decline slightly after peaking in 2018.
These are the findings of the latest study on the worldwide market for electric locomotives by the German consultancy company SCI Verkehr. In Eastern Europe there remains a backlog demand for modern, more powerful and cross-border electric locomotives, as, after more than 35 years of service, Eastern Europe’s current fleet is comparatively old and the share of national locomotives is very high at around 90%.
The average age of locomotives in Western Europe is about 23 years and the share of national locomotives is less than 70%. (ben)