Bombardier will deliver the new locomotives in batches between May 2018 and December 2019.

The order increases Railpool’s fleet of Traxx locomotives to 189.

The car bodies for the new units will be built in Wroclaw, Poland, while the bogies are being manufactured in Siegen, Germany. Final assembly will be carried out in Kassel.

The multi-system locomotives are able to operate using 5 kV and 25 kV AC or 1.5 and 3 kV DC power supplies, allowing them to be used for cross-border services between Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Thorsten Priebe, chief operating officer of Railpool, said: “Our first Traxx locomotive was delivered in 2009 – since then we made very good experience regarding performance, traction effort, efficiency and reliability with our Traxx fleet.

“Based on this experience, we want to offer these additional locomotives for the most important European freight corridors which connect several of the biggest European harbors.”