advertisement

---

Yesterday, Bombardier Transportation unveiled the first multi-system, electric freight locomotive produced for the Swiss Federal Railways — and the 34,000th locomotive Bombardier has built at its Kassel, Germany, plant since 1848.

A year ago, the Swiss railroad placed a $76 million order for 18 TRAXX MS electric locomotives, which are designed to adapt to AC and DC networks. To be delivered between October and March, the locomotives will be used to move freight between Switzerland and Italy.

Designed to reach a top speed of 86 mph, TRAXX locomotives feature a MITRAC lightweight propulsion system and modular design that can be adapted to meet any electronic-system changes to Switzerland's 15 kV AC and Italy's 3 kV DC network. TRAXX units also include standard parts to integrate with the Swiss railway's current fleet of 50 dual-system locomotives.

To date, 298 TRAXX locomotives operating in Germany and Switzerland have logged more than 33 million miles.