Seven locomotives leased across four European rail markets

By Rebecca Stone

Seven locomotives across three leasing announcements are now allocated in Poland, Austria, Romania and Germany, with OnTrain accounting for four Newag units.

The lessors are CARGOUNIT, Alpha Trains and OnTrain; the equipment suppliers are Siemens and Newag. CARGOUNIT supplies two Siemens units to Rail&Sea Logistics Group, Alpha Trains has handed one Vectron AC to Dinlok Group, and OnTrain has allocated four Dragon 2 locomotives to three Polish operators.

What has changed in the fleets?

CARGOUNIT added Rail&Sea Logistics Group to its customer portfolio with two Siemens electric locomotives for group operating companies in Austria and Romania. The Austrian assignment is a Siemens Vectron; the Romanian assignment is a Siemens Smartron.

Rail&Sea Logistics Group, headquartered near Salzburg, provides railway transport and logistics services across Europe through several national subsidiaries. Its Romanian operation, Rail&Sea Traction, adopted that name in February 2026, replacing Rail Operations S.R.L.

The Romanian company shunts at Bukovina and Arad and operates freight trains for forestry, paper, agriculture and consumer goods. Its two country assignments add electric locomotives to that operating base, but no train-count, tonnage or cost-saving target accompanies the leases.

Alpha Trains handed a Siemens Vectron AC locomotive to German company Dinlok Group, making it a new customer of the European rolling-stock lessor. Dinlok, based in Dinslaken, North Rhine-Westphalia, provides railway personnel and operational services through group companies, including Dinlok Rail. The announcement names no locomotive number, delivery date, lease term or freight assignment, so its service contribution cannot yet be measured.

Which operators hold the OnTrain units?

Polish lessor OnTrain handed over its fourth Newag Dragon 2 to Qemetica Cargo, bringing its Dragon 2 fleet to four units across three Polish freight operators. JAXAN holds two. Skinest Rail Polska holds one. Qemetica Cargo holds one.

The fleet forms part of OnTrain’s December 2024 order for 10 Dragon 2 locomotives, with an option for another 10. The firm order is due for delivery during 2026-2027.

• E6ACTadnb-099 — JAXAN: Delivered in July 2026.
• E6ACTadnb-100 — JAXAN: Delivered in August 2026. Newag manufactured it as the 100th Dragon 2, and it received a special commemorative livery.
• E6ACTadnb-101 — Skinest Rail Polska: Accepted in September 2026.
• E6ACTadnb-102 — Qemetica Cargo: Accepted on 30 October 2026 and subsequently handed over to the operator.

What can the Dragon 2 handle?

All four locomotives use the E6ACTadnb variant for heavy freight operations on Poland’s 3 kV DC network. They rate at 5 MW, with maximum starting tractive effort of 410 kN. A 503 kW diesel last-mile engine allows operation on non-electrified tracks.

That combination links electric operation with access to unelectrified track, but the announcement provides no fuel-consumption, maintenance-cost or route data with which to quantify the benefit. Full exercise of the option would double OnTrain’s firm program from 10 to 20 locomotives, although no exercise date or decision accompanies the order.

What can be measured now?

The announcements document deliveries and acceptance dates, not operating results. They disclose no train frequencies, freight tonnage, locomotive availability, lease rates, energy use or maintenance schedules.

That gap prevents a defensible claim that the seven leases have increased capacity or reduced cost. Operator fleet rosters and network traffic records must show whether the units replace older equipment, support new services or remain reserve capacity.

The technical figures likewise describe design output rather than achieved performance. Fleet plans, duty cycles and maintenance records will be needed to test the 5 MW rating and 410 kN starting effort against actual Polish traffic.

Dating is uneven. OnTrain provides month-level acceptance and handover dates for all four Dragon 2 units; Alpha Trains gives no date for Dinlok’s Vectron AC; CARGOUNIT identifies the two locomotives and countries but no delivery dates. No regulator, public-finance arrangement or further delivery milestone appears in the announcements.

What comes next?

OnTrain has six firm-order Dragon 2 units still to deliver during the 2026-2027 program. The next test is acceptance and placement of those units, followed by evidence on service use and operating cost from JAXAN, Skinest Rail Polska and Qemetica Cargo.

CARGOUNIT and Alpha Trains have disclosed no follow-on orders for the two Rail&Sea Vectron-family locomotives or Dinlok’s Vectron AC, leaving their next fleet steps unstated. Through 2027, acceptance of the remaining six firm-order units and any available traffic, availability and cost data from the three Polish customers will determine whether the leases produce measurable capacity or savings.