MAGPIE’s Shunting Locomotives is ready for testing
We have achieved a great milestone with our hybrid shunting locomotive project, which is known in the MAGPIE project as Demo 8. It is part of Work Package 6, which focuses on finding solutions to decarbonize land-based transport in and around ports.
The first fully developed hybrid shunting locomotive was transferred to Kiel from Zeebrugge (Belgium) after having arrived from China, where it was constructed. In Kiel (Germany), the final systems and components are currently being fitted and installed onto the locomotive. This marks an important milestone in the production process of the locomotive, which is being prepared for a long-term test program. The program is set to commence on the 15th of April, and it will involve rigorous testing and evaluation of the locomotive’s performance, durability, and safety features under various conditions and environments. The production of the second locomotive is also progressing steadily and can be expected to be ready for testing in 2024.
Once testing is completed in Kiel, the hybrid shunting locomotives will be trialled on short distances between the Port of Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Venlo or Duisburg (Germany). This part of the process is expected to commence in 2026. The hybrid shunting locomotive will make use of the overhead lines to charge its batteries while rolling on the tracks. Currently, the aim is to obtain certification for the Netherlands and Germany before slowly expanding to other countries.
