French railway vehicles powered by Scania

French railway vehicles powered by Scania

Jan 7, 2016  | Mechanical engineering 

French railway vehicles powered by Scania
(Photo by: Scania)

Scania 9-litre engines will power a new fleet of refurbished track inspection vehicles for the French national railway company SNCF.

The Scania engines were selected for use in the 115 refurbished DU84 track inspection vehicles by Socofer, the railway vehicle manufacturing company who have been appointed by SNCF to oversee the design of the vehicles.

Power and reliability enough for 300 tonnes

SNCF put out tenders in 2013 for a new generation of faster vehicles so powerful that would be able to reach and maintain speeds of 100 km/h and have enough torque to haul up to 300 tonnes on level surfaces.

Socofer was awarded the contract after suggesting the best solution would be to focus on the development and production of a new powertrain powered by Scania.

“The tender listed a range of criteria,” says Jack Morin, Sales Manager at Socofer, “including the dimensions of the engine, its consumption, performance and estimated cost of maintenance. The Scania 9-litre engine stood out in many respects.”

Attractive total operating economy

Alain Paris, Head of Project DU84R, SNCF, says: “Socofer were the only company that presented us with an innovation that immediately aroused our interest. The Scania 9-litre engine’s small size, torque and operating costs provide everything we need.”

With the engines being required to run 1,200 hours per year in extreme conditions, reliability was also an important factor in the choice of Scania. As was Scania’s ability to provide a service network that could respond to any incidents across the whole of France.

“The high cost of the immobilisation of a vehicle encourages us to look for a high level of reliability in our engines and greater responsiveness in the event of an incident from our engine suppliers,” says Paris.

Via Scania
Image,video ©: Scania