Leasing company Porterbrook has purchased three Zephir ‘LOK 16.300' depot shunters to replace Class 08 diesel shunters currently used for shunting at Celsa Steel Works in Cardiff.
Porterbrook will lease the new Zephir ‘LOK 16.300' to GB Railfreight for its shunting operations at Celsa, with the first shunter expected to immediately go into service when it is delivered in October 2024.
The new shunters are more sustainable than traditional depot shunters as they are more fuel efficient and, by being fitted with road wheels, they can operate outside the confines of railway lines.
Because of the duty cycle that the shunters operate at the Celsa works, the Class 08 shunters could not be replaced by battery or electric locomotives.
The Zephir ‘LOK 16.300' shunters are fitted with EU Stage V engines, which are the latest low emission engine standards for reduced pollution and lower CO2 emissions.
The Class 08 shunters that they will replace were built before the introduction of all EU low emissions standards. They are expected to show a fuel efficiency saving of up to 60%, and the advantage that they can run on HVO bio-diesel.
The new shunters are being built at Zephir's factories at Modena in Italy, and were procured by Porterbrook through Zephir's UK distributor Depot Rail. Maintenance of the unit while in operation at Celsa will be the responsibility of Depot Rail.
The ‘LOK 16.300' shunters are based on Zephir's LOK range of 11 models, equivalent to locomotives weighing from ten to 100 tonnes capable of hauling trains from 600 to 6,000 tonnes.
Much of the output from Celsa steel works has recently gone towards the construction of HS2.
We're pleased to be adding these new industry-leading Zephir shunt locotractors to our fleet. The LOK 16.300 locotractors alongside other recent significant investments made by GB Railfreight, including 50 modern JNA-X wagons from Porterbrook will help us deliver our target to be net zero by 2050 and help to decarbonise the UK's supply chains.
Dave Golding, Asset Director of GB Railfreight
Porterbrook is committed to investing in rail freight for the long-term. With over 300 depot shunters currently operating in the UK and most due for renewal over the next five years, bringing these lower-emission Zephirs under our ownership for GB Railfreight marks a further diversification of our freight fleet, and underlines our dedication to support the sector with affordable, innovative and sustainable rolling stock.
We look forward to working with Zephir and our industry partners to continue the roll out of more sustainable assets for depot operations.
Mark Wyborn, Porterbrook'Head of Freight and Route Services
We are really pleased to have the opportunity to work with Porterbrook and GB Railfreight to provide a more sustainable shunting solution for Celsa's Cardiff operations.
Owen Snell, Director at Depot Rail
Near fell for that one, very compelling April Fool!!
I don’t think it’s an April Fool as it was announced in several places on March 28th. The Zephir locotractors have a lower power rating than the 08s (300hp not 350) but identical tractive effort. And the 08s are over 60 years old!
Fear not hydrogen powered o8 conversions are in development
What’s the date of this article?
As long as it’s not produced in the UK, that’s the main thing.
Helps us reduce our co2.
As long as it’s not produced in the UK, that’s the main thing.
Helps us reduce our co2. Ffs
What’s the traction effort of a rubber wheel on wet steel rails? Not a lot I guess.
Hey, all you railway decision makers out there. I’ll let you into a little secret. Just because something is new, it doesn’t always follow that it is better.
I don’t understand why they can’t just take out the engine and generators and fit a large battery unit and simple control system as they already have DC motors. I would imagine that a battery powered shunter could be used around a yard all day and charge when not in use
They just look like a truck with rail wheels, a bit like a maintenance truck
I’m no expert on railways but simply an enthusiastic follower who also works in safety. However as noted by the comment above, this may be a backward step. I suspect mostly driven by cost reduction measures. Possibly short sighted ones at that.
Railways have been in constant development since 1829, and before . They have developed the way they have through hundreds of years of experimentation and failure. This seems to me to be a bit of a “bowler hat with sleeves “.
Pointless and does neither job well…
As a member of the Shunt crew at Alstom (Derby Carriage & Wagon site), I can say from experience how sorry I feel for the people now forced to use these terrible vehicles.
Our 08’s were replaced with these about 10 years ago, and our management has come to regret it.
Whatever fuel savings they think they are making, and whatever time savings through freedom of movement will both be lost:
– The pulling power is far lower, limiting the maximum work it can do at one time, but they struggle to stop when moving significant weight, especially in wet conditions where the rubber tires just slide
– The rail wheels are so small they wear away quickly, leading to semi-frequent derailment
– We have had nothing but problems with the air compressors and the hydraulics, leading to record downtime
– The software is locked behind a proprietary pay wall, leaving maintenance options limited to very few companies, who can get away with charging whatever they want.
So not only are they losing a part of railway history, their going to see an active reduction in productivity.
They even look useless!
Great comment CAC-021
You cannot get much more enviromentally friendly than using a vehicle that was built over 60 years ago and is still totally fit for purpose. The new one won’t last 10 / 15 years so not as environmentally friendly as they would have you believe.
Ok the emissions could be improved perhaps leading to it being re-engined.
The new kit has to do every job twice because of its limitations which costs more in fuel and labour.
Interesting to hear from someone who has experience of these vehicles. Why does nothing in your comment surprise me?? It seems as though it doesn’t matter how rubbish something is, and how retrograde a step it is in practical terms, earning a few brownie points on emissions is all that matters!!
I work at Alstom, Litchurch Lane, Derby site too and see them around the yard, I don’t know much about them except they are Italian and they come in Diesel or Electric for lower loads. I think I have seen the shunters as Etches Park; I don’t have much to do with that site.