On Saturday, 16 May, 2015, at the Gdańsk Central Railway Station, PKP Intercity and NEWAG S.A. presented modernised SM42 series locomotives. The locos are used for shunting operations and in the summer they will be pulling trains on non-electrified lines along the routes: Gdynia – Hel and Kłodzko — Kudowa Zdrój.
NEWAG S.A. modernised twenty SM42 series diesel locomotives. The modernised units have a completely new body. Only the locomotive frame, bogies and fuel tanks were left from the former design. The new locomotives have been fitted with a modern braking system with a screw compressor and a spring parking brake and special buffers with the ‘crash’ function which absorb crash energy. The locomotive is also equipped with a microprocessor control system, a GPS system, a modern event recorder and a monitoring system with track recording. The locomotive has also been fitted with a modern, air-conditioned driver’s cab with two ergonomic control panels and amenities.
“Thanks to the contract with PKP Intercity we have been able to manufacture second generation diesel locomotives: a two-motor loco with a function of providing electricity to train cars and a one-motor locomotive with a battery drive function,” said Maciej Górowski, Deputy Manager of the Research and Development Department at NEWAG S.A. “We have implemented the modern, tested technological and functional solutions which ensure driver’s work comfort and are compliant with the existing standards and legal provisions, including the European Stage IIIB exhaust emission standard.”
The locomotives are used for shunting operations in Warszawa, Gdynia, Kraków, Wrocław, Olsztyn and Szczecin. However, in the summer vacation period they will service non-electrified sections of train routes. PKP Intercity paid nearly PLN 77 million for the modernisation.
“The modernisation of the locomotives constitutes part of the PKP Intercity investment programme amounting to PLN 4.3 billion net,” emphasized Marcin Karasiński, the Project Manager at PKP Intercity. “Part of the money comes from the European Union funds. In the case of this project, the EU funding amounted to PLN 43.7 million,” he added.