Operail to Develop LNG Freight Locomotive

Operail announced today it has entered into a cooperation agreement with the Latvian company DiGas to develop a cargo-carrying LNG freight locomotive in the region.Operail is a railway logistics company located in Tallinn, Estonia. Its sole shareholder is the Government of Estonia. DiGas is an engineering company specialized in dual-fuel solutions based in Riga, Latvia.

An American General Electric C36 locomotive will be used dividing the 17,000-litre fuel tank in two – half for diesel fuel and half for LNG according to Operail. Current plans call for the locomotive to be tested in the of summer 2020.

“We are constantly looking for solutions that would be friendlier towards the environment. The first LNG freight locomotive is an excellent example of how the use of new technologies not only makes existing processes more efficient, but also helps to preserve the nature around us,” said Raul Toomsalu, Chairman of the Management Board of Operail. “Our cost calculations confirm that transporting one tonne of goods on railways for 100 kilometres consumes a quarter of the fuel that transporting it on roads would. The implementation of LNG locomotives will increase that gap further.”