Rail Traction Company (RTC) and Akiem strengthen collaboration

 This new contract covers the leasing of three Siemens Eurosprinter 189 locomotives and associated maintenance to ensure the traction of freight wagons in Northern Italy.

This new partnership strengthens Akiem’s position as a major player in the locomotives leasing in Italy. The company has been operating in this market since 2009 and already counts among its customers many key players. This new contract is part of Akiem’s ​​ambitious development strategy on the Italian market, a major growth area.

“Italy is a key market for Akiem in the context of promoting European rail and modal shift. This partnership with RTC illustrates our commitment to providing traction solutions tailored to the specific needs of Italian rail operators,” says Arnaud Deloumeau, Akiem’s Western Europe Director. “We provide a large array of full service solutions, from shunting and single wagon diesel locomotives to domestic electric locomotives like TRAXX DC2 and DC3 with Last Mile and corridor locomotives like TRAXX MS2, Eurosprinter and Vectron. We are especially satisfied to see that the 18-month hard work on our Eurosprinters is now bearing fruit with improved performance for the benefit of our clients”.

Founded in 2000 and based in Bolzano, RTC operates mainly on the corridors connecting Italy to Germany and Slovenia. The company, headed by Martin Ausserdorfer since 2021, has solid experience in international rail freight transport. Through STR2, RTC is part of the Autostrada del Brennero Group, which also includes Lokomotion and InRail railway undertakings representing now the second rail player in the freight sector in Italy.

The Siemens Eurosprinter 189 locomotives supplied by Akiem will strengthen RTC’s existing fleet and enable him to meet the growing demand for freight transport. Built between 2002 and 2005, these locomotives are perfectly suited to the requirements of European freight and are already operating especially on the Rhine-Alps, Rhine-Danube and Central and Eastern Europe corridors.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Akiem on this project. Their expertise and the quality of their locomotives will allow us to optimize our operations and meet the needs of our customers, developing interoperability and supporting our strategic objective of contributing to the construction of a European railway, with a focus on the development of the SCAN-MED corridor through the Brenner tunnel” says Martin Ausserdorfer, CEO at Rail Traction Company.