Today, DB Cargo Polska no. 5170 056 arrived in Munich, being placed on Loco buggies. The images made by Norman Gottberg and Frank Gollhardt show the damage the locomotive suffered during a crash in March of this year.

Previously, we already posted a link to images of the transport in Poland: Loco Buggies are being used to transport the damaged 5170 056 back to Germany

5170 056-3 after being recovered from the Tarnówka crash site. It collided with another freight train on 24.03.2016.

Rozbity w wypadku pod Dąbiem n.Nerem #Siemens #Vectron #X4EC-056 #dbschenker 📷@E6ACT © ⚠ #crash #wypadek #accident #dbschenker #dbschenkerrail #polskiekolejepanstwowe #PKP #Dąbie #zug #ES64U4 #ES64F4 #weglowka #railporn #instarail #railphotos #train #electriclocomotive

A photo posted by E6ACT (@e6act) on Apr 3, 2016 at 8:39am PDT

You may have read about the current re-organization of the Deutsche Bahn. Together with consultation company McKinsey, it is redefining its services and organizational structure, so it can face the rapidly changing market circumstances.

One of the measures taken is the merger of all rail transport services of the Deutsche Bahn into one division now called 'Traffic & Transport'. Railfreight logistics is taken out of the logistics division and will continue under the 'good old' DB Cargo brand name. To the outside world the Traffic & Transport division will brand itself as 'DB' so we don't expect locomotives nor carriages to get DB Cargo logos again. So the DB logo currently in use will stay as it is.

The non-rail logistic services will continue under the name DB Schenker. Separating the rail related activities from the rest fits the strategy to (partially) sell the new DB Schenker. DB has intentions to do this, but faces strong opposition form the German government. To be continued.

For our website, it means we have to rename the owner name of several thousands of locomotives. This will be done in one big batch. We are working on it.

In October 2015 we already had some first images of this Polish locomotive, testing at the T1 ring of the Siemens test center in Wegberg-Wildenrath. On 15.02.2016, the machine was again making its round at the facility's perimeters. (Wolfgang Scheer)

A red Vectron in Germany. Seen yesterday: DB Schenker Rail Polska no. 5 170 040 at the T1 test circuit in Wegberg-Wildenrath. (Wolfgang Scheer)

PKP IC, the passenger operator from Poland, is currently facing a locomotive shortage. That is why is currently tendering for three locomotives to hire for a three month period. The situation should improve when Stadler Rail will start delivering the new 160 kph Flirt3 trains and Pesa has its first Dart trains (series ED161) available for service, but this will still take while.

For now, PKP IC has to be creative to find enough haulage power, resulting in exotic combinatiosn. EU07-167 from Ecco Rail is being used for example. Two red Vectrons are being hired from DB Schenker Rail Polska (no. 5 170 049 and 052). And the movie below shows Macquarie Rail 186 136 pulling the EC train to Berlin:

Currently, Polish freight operator is hiring DB Schenker Rail Polska locomotives 5 170 048 and 056. This image shows the latter locomotive mentioned pulling a freight train and a Lotos Kolej Traxx DE locomotive.

At this moment there are no other Vectron DC locomotives available for lease in Poland, other than the 23 red units of DB Schenker Rail Polska. Siemens 5170 020/021/034 are currently at the VUZ Velim test center in the Czech Republic. DB Cargo Vectron (Poland)

The long distance passenger operator is going to use the extra machines for TLK and EIC services from Warsaw to Krakow, Zakopane / Krynica, Poznan, Gorzow Wielkopolski and Szczecin. - GK/ED DB Cargo Vectron (Poland)

Polish passenger operator PKP IC is planning on hiring two red Vectron locomotives from DBSRP. Unit 5 170 048 and 049 are possible candidates to be used for intercity-trains. DB Cargo Vectron (Poland)

DB Cargo Vectron (Poland)

This permit is valid for the Polish Vectron DC locomotives with the service number 5 170 034 - 049. The first one of this batch is a white Siemens demonstrator locomotive. The others are red and in service of DB Schenker Polska.

DC locomotives can only run on a part of the Czech network of course, as the country is partially AC voltage territory. - MG/PK/PS DB Cargo Vectron (Poland) Siemens Vectron locos used for test and promotion

The red machines are accompanied by a white one: Siemens 5 170 021-7. This machines has lost its red livery during the past months. Previously this machine was hired to DB Schenker Rail Polska too. Both 5 170 020 and 021 were in service of DBSRP only temporarily and returned to Siemens at the end of 2013. DB Cargo Vectron (Poland) Siemens Vectron locos used for test and promotion

The Vectron series of locomotives has completed its certification procedure for conventional rail transport in accordance with the Technical Specification for Interoperability TSI CR LOC&PAS. The EC certificate was presented yesterday by Ulrich Wiescholek, Head of the German notified body Eisenbahn-Cert (EBC), to Karl-Hermann Klausecker, CEO of Siemens Locomotives and Components.

“Vectron is the first electrical locomotive platform to be certified according to this specification in Europe. The certificate enormously simplifies for us the process of national approvals with regard to the expenditure and the time required. This means we have taken another important step toward approval of the Vectron throughout Europe”, said Karl-Hermann Klausecker on receiving the certificate.

The Vectron locomotives thus meet all standardized, pan-European technical specifications for the approval of locomotives. These specifications not only include the TSI CR LOC&PAS, but also the TSI HS RST for rolling stock of the trans-European high-speed rail system, Class 2 (vehicles with a maximum speed of between 190 km/h and 250 km/h), the TSI SRT (safety in rail tunnels), the TSI PRM (access for persons with restricted mobility), the noise requirements according to the TSI HS RST and the TSI NOI (rolling stock - noise) of conventional rail transport, and the TSI CCS (control, command and signaling) when using an ERTM system.

This has established the basis for obtaining the individual national approvals in Europe more easily and with considerably reduced test expenditure. At present, the approval authorities of all EU member states are aligning their national approval requirements with the TSI regulations. This means that only those national requirements that are not covered by the TSI still have to be met. These are being notified to the European Railway Agency (ERA) as National Technical Rules (NTR).

A number of customer-specific versions of the Vectron series of locomotives have already been able to obtain series approval from the German Federal Railway Authority (EBA). Thanks to the extended certification now available, all further Vectron variants pending approval at EBA can obtain continuous series approval until December 2020, after which applications can be submitted for extensions. In the case of locomotives without TSI CR LOC&PAS certification, the series approval ends in mid-2017. BoxXpress.de Vectron CargoServ Vectron DB Cargo Vectron (Poland) FuoriMuro Vectron MRCE Vectron Paribus (Northrail) Vectron Railpool Vectron Siemens Vectron locos used for test and promotion VR Group: Vectron locomotives for Finland

On 14.12.2013, three new Vectron locomotives for DB Schenker Rail Polska were transported from the Munich factory to Poland. The locomotives involved:

Siemens 21876 - DB Schenker 5 170 042-3
Siemens 21877 - DB Schenker 5 170 043-1
Siemens 21878 - DB Schenker 5 170 044-9

A nice image of the transport. DB Cargo Vectron (Poland)

5 170 020 and 021 are not part of the final order. They were only hired to DB Schenker Rail Polska. At this moment, Siemens has delivered 10 new units, the designated 5 170 035-044. More are soon to come. - GK DB Cargo Vectron (Poland)

DB Schenker 5 170 038-1
DB Schenker 5 170 039-9
DB Schenker 5 170 040-7
DB Cargo Vectron (Poland)

Siemens press statement with more information:

Siemens has received an order for 23 electric locomotives from DB Schenker Rail Polska S.A., a Polish subsidiary of the European DB Schenker Rail Europe and the largest private rail freight company in Poland. This is the largest order Siemens has received so far for its Vectron locomotive generation. "This is already the third order for our newly developed locomotive platform. A particularly pleasing aspect is that we were also able to secure an option for a further 13 locomotives," said Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Rail Systems. The customer intends to deploy the vehicles for freight services in Poland. Shipment of the 23 vehicles will commence immediately and is due to be completed by 2015. The order value for these locomotives is in the high double-digit million range.
With the new Vectron locomotive, Siemens is offering a product for passenger and freight transport that has been designed to meet increasingly variable requirements and perform transport tasks in Europe. The version for DB Schenker Rail Polska has been designed for operation on the Polish DC network and has been fitted with the corresponding train protection equipment. During its certification in Poland, the Vectron underwent almost a year of trials with various operators on the Polish network. Siemens received certification for the vehicles in September 2012.

Siemens will manufacture the locomotives to the highest quality standards at its Munich plant using cutting-edge production technology. For example, the steel construction components will be produced using innovative laser-hybrid welding equipment to allow consistently high carbody structure quality.

DB Schenker Rail Polska has decided in favor of Siemens Vectron Central Stock concept to ensure the supply of spare parts. This enables spare parts to be delivered within 24 hours, thus ensuring a high level of availability at the customer's depot. All orders can be placed online in the Siemens "RailMall" webshop.

The Vectron family consists of single and multi-system locomotives for the European AC and DC networks for fast passenger services as well as interoperable cross-border freight services. These versions allow for operation on four different line voltage systems and in various performance classes. The development focused not only on investment protection, environmental compatibility and flexibility, but also on ease of retrofitting and conversion, with the trains also able to be adapted for other national protection systems. The components in the machine room have been arranged so as to make optimum use of the space available. For example, there was room to house a shunting module to permit operation on track sections with no overhead contact line. - Siemens DB Cargo Vectron (Poland)