Romanian manufacturer of rolling stock Softronic came to Berlin with a big red machine. It is locomotive no.17 from their Trans Montana production line. This is a asynchronous electric locomotive with six axles, 6 MW rated power and 435 kN traction effort at start-up. Next to the Dragon from Newag, the only Co'Co'-platform standard available in Europe.

The machine presented in Berlin looks quite different from the previous 16 units. Softronic 91 53 0480 017-9 is the first to feature new crash absorption elements meeting the European TSI guidelines. Being mounted behind the buffers of the locomotive, Softronic had to lengthen the Trans Montana with a 45 cm. The cabin design consequently changed.

No. 91 53 0480 017-9 is a dual frequency locomotive, capable of running under both 15 and 25 kV AC catenary. The 15kV capability was recently added to the platform, the first machines were 25kV-only locomotives.

The new Trans Montana has a single axle drive train. Every motor can be regulated independently. If needed, the machine could return home with only one of its six traction motors. Interesting is to know Softronic is also considering adding a small diesel engine to move the locomotive in areas without catenary, however this should not be seen as a full fledged 'last mile' feature to bring freight trains to their end points, according to Softronic.

Most remarkable was the spacious machine room of the locomotive. There are two isles (left and right) connecting both driver cabs (that have therefore two machine room doors) and a traversing halfway connecting both paths.

During the fair Softronic signed a contract with a new customer: CER Hungary. The freight operator will get one locomotive. Next to MMV, it is the second customer from outside Romania for Softronic. Other machines are operated by DB Schenker Rail Romania and CFR Calatori. Also Softronic's in-house operator Softrans is using these machines.

It is unclear until now if the CER machine will have the new fortified front design already. Softronic produces its locomotives blindly on a steady pace, without having a signed customer contract yet for every machine. This ensures a steady delivery by subcontractors and a short delivery time. The downside is the big risk of not finding a customer for every product. However, Softronic does not have this problem. Its six-axle machines are very welcome for heavy freight duties.

Soon, Softronic plans to expand the service domain of its platform westwards. 91 53 0480 014-6 is currently being readied for test runs on Austria.