Siemens delivers first Class 7100 locomotive to Pacific National

The first Class 7100 locomotive for Pacific National was today dispatched from the Siemens Locomotive Manufacturing Plant in Munich enroute to Australia. Scheduled to arrive in early April, the narrow gauge, 25kV heavy haul electric locomotive is being transported from Brisbane to its commissioning site in the Queensland Goonyella Coal System by rail. The balance of the locomotives are currently under construction and testing, and will be delivered progressively over the next 12 months.

In late 2007 Pacific National awarded Siemens a contract for the design, supply, testing and commissioning, and warranty support of the Class 7100 locomotives. This milestone marked the award to Siemens of the third contract for this locomotive type within a two year period.

Mr. Philip Tonks, Project Director, Pacific National Queensland Coal, stated that the new Siemens locomotives form a key component of Pacific National’s objective to secure a portion of the coal export market in Queensland.

“Pacific National is Australia’s largest private rail freight business - therefore, to maintain our leadership in high volume rail haulage, we need to be at the forefront of innovative rail technologies that will provide competitive answers for our transport customers.

“We see our partnership with Siemens as an opportunity to leverage on their global experience of manufacturing rolling stock, which combines our need for innovation as well as a high level of service.

“Due to the continuous demand for our services, we need to be assured of the locomotives’ safety, reliability and efficiency. Minimising downtime is a priority for us and we believe that Siemens electric locomotives, service and spare parts logistics will be effective in meeting our needs,” Mr. Tonks reported.

Siemens Vice President, Mobility, Mr. Paul Bennett, said Siemens is pleased to be working with Pacific National and providing world class locomotives to support their entry into the Queensland coal market.

“Our locomotives are designed and built in Germany with bogies from our global Centre of Competence located in Graz, Austria and will enable Pacific National to deliver a reliable operation in the arduous heavy haul coal operations over a lifetime of at least 30 years.

“The Class 7100 locomotives are customised to meet specific requirements of rail operation in Australia and are part of the Siemens locomotive family E40AC, designed for heavy duty freight services which provides the highest reliability combined with low maintenance cost.

“The locomotives are equipped with three bogies - each with two powered axles - providing many operational advantages. These benefits include low weight shift, low lateral and vertical forces and optimum weight distribution enabling maximum load haulage.

“We are also proud of the PN 7100’s low energy consumption which significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions due to the highly efficient AC drive system and regenerative braking ability. Adding to this, the high traction locomotives maximise the use of the available track adhesion and thus, the payload which can be hauled by each train, resulting in improved cost efficiencies,” Mr. Bennett confirmed.