News

LTG Cargo, the freight forwarding company of the LTG Group, has purchased 17 locomotives specially manufactured for transport in Lithuania, spare parts, maintenance and support services for the first 3 years of operation. It is planned that the electrification of the Vilnius-Klaipėda railway line will use electricity generated from renewable energy sources, so that the electric locomotives will be able to transport freight with no carbon dioxide emissions.

The worth of the project amounts to EUR 115.66 million. The contract with the Spanish manufacturer Stadler Valencia provides for the possibility of manufacturing 17 more locomotives as needed as well as supplying parts and maintenance services.

“The purchase of electric locomotives is an important step not only in the railway electrification programme of the LTG Group. It marks the start of a new era of more sustainable and reliable rail freight transport. The new electric locomotives will transport freight between Vilnius and Klaipėda - a corridor that carries a half of all rail freight in Lithuania every year. Electric locomotives are about three times more efficient than diesel locomotives, so we will be able to offer our customers not only greener, but also more competitive freight transport services,” says Eglė Šimė, the Chief Executive Officer of LTG Cargo.

The new locomotives will be repaired less frequently, there will be no need to spend extra time on refuelling and oil changes, and the amount of energy consumed will directly depend on the weight of the load being hauled, unlike diesel locomotives. In addition, electric locomotives are more powerful and can carry more loads at once.

“Diesel locomotives essentially work like running power stations: an internal combustion engine powered by diesel turns an electrical generator that produces electricity and supplies it to the electric traction motors that drive the rolling stock. Electric locomotives are propelled forward by electricity directly from the overhead contact line. In order to use it even more efficiently, it is planned to regenerate the energy generated during the braking of the train back into the contact network for further use,” says Audrius Pukas, the Head of Technology Asset Management of LTG Cargo.

The first electric locomotives capable of transporting 5,700 tonnes of freight will be delivered to Lithuania in early 2027.

The rail electrification project implemented by the LTG Group will be completed at the end of 2025. It will bring the national electrified railway track length to almost 28% of all railway tracks and reduce air pollution by 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

LTG Cargo is a company of the LTG Group and will continue its active integration and expansion in the West. The company provides freight transport, logistics and freight forwarding, freight loading, locomotive and wagon repair and wagon rental services in Lithuania and abroad. LTG Cargo has established and manages LTG Cargo Polska in Poland and LTG Cargo Ukraine in Ukraine. The company has a team of 1,800 logistics professionals to develop greener rail freight transport. LTG Cargo will transport 27.2 million tonnes of freight in 2023. Last year, the company’s revenue was approximately EUR 286 million and net profit was EUR 17.5 million.