Angel Trains has announced a string of recent successes in its international locomotive leasing activity, which reflect the strength of its client and asset portfolio.

Following their retrofitment with ETCS for the Betuwelijn dedicated freight line in the Netherlands, Angel Trains has recently placed five Vossloh G 2000s on lease with two German customers, in both cases to serve Rotterdam from their German bases. The G 2000 will soon be entering service in France with Euro Cargo Rail and Veolia Cargo, following the recent type homologation for the French network. Angel Trains has also leased G 2000s to SNCF, for use in Belgium and the Netherlands, and to SBB Cargo, for use in Italy. These contracts underscore the validity of the G 2000’s original design for medium haul freight trains, the long-term investment by Angel Trains and Vossloh Locomotives in the type’s further development and homologation and also Angel Trains’ pan-European service of key clients.

On the back of this success with proven locomotive types and multiple market homologations, Angel Trains has recently placed orders with Vossloh Locomotives for additional G 1206 and G 2000 locomotives, which will be delivered within the next twelve months. A further twelve Euro 4000 locomotives have also been ordered from Vossloh’s Valencia factory, allowing Angel Trains to replenish its inventory after placing 11 locomotives with two different Spanish operators.

Success in the Italian market, with RTC, Nordcargo and Railion Italia all taking Traxx DC locomotives on lease, has led to new orders from Bombardier for Traxx family electric locomotives for this country, in both 3000V DC configuration for the domestic market and in multi-voltage configuration for transalpine corridors. We have also successfully delivered the first two Traxx MS locomotives – of an order of 12 – to High Speed Alliance in the Netherlands. These will go into operation at the end of the year.

Following a similar pattern in the Polish market, the first four of a fleet of seven diesel locomotives leased by Angel Trains to Freightliner PL have now entered service. In the wake of the recent type homologation by the Polish rail agency UTK of the Bombardier Traxx MS locomotive, Angel Trains has doubled its forward order of this type from ten to twenty. With the first units available for delivery by the end of this year, discussions with several potential Polish lessees are at an advanced stage.

Finally, the first Siemens ER20 locomotives purchased by Angel Trains have recently been delivered to lessee Regentalbahn and will be in service hauling passenger trains between Oberstdorf / Lindau and Munich and from Munich to Hof / Furth i.W. when its concession begins in December 2007.