Operail brings two more Estonian-built locomotives to Finnish railways

Last August, the first C30-M(F) locomotive built in Estonia at Operail’s Tapa depot was registered in Finland. Operail has now signed contracts to bring two more locomotives to the Finnish railways. The first of them, a locomotive called Ants, has just arrived our northern neighbours and is awaiting registration. The next locomotive will start its journey to its new job in July.

To transport the locomotives across the bay, they are partially dismantled, i.e., the bogies are removed, and the locomotives are lifted on board the ship. In Finland, the locomotives are reassembled and set up. The locomotives are used for shunting by Finnish rail freight companies.

The C30-M locomotives, which were built in Tapa, received their licence to operate on Finnish public railways in August 2022, after a year of test runs and paperwork. In order to put the locomotives, registered under the model name C30-M in Estonia, into service in Finland, the locomotives have to undergo a number of modifications, including re-turning the profile of the wheelsets, as the track gauge of the Finnish railway is 4 mm wider than in Estonia. Modifications also have to be made to the refuelling and radio systems, for example. The C30-M adapted for Finnish railways is named C30-MF.

Operail started the C30-M project in 2016 and presented the first C30-M locomotive built in Tapa in autumn 2018. To date, 12 locomotives have been built. Operail’s Tapa depot is the only place in Estonia where locomotives are built.

Most of the C30-M locomotives are named after historic Tapa station masters. Jakob, which is working in Finland for the second year, is named after Jakob Roplik, who was the manager of Tapa station in 1940-1941. Ants, which is awaiting registration in Finland, is named after Ants Kurvits, who managed the Tapa station from 1963 to 1987.

The C30-M is a modern modular locomotive that is significantly more environmentally friendly than previous locomotives and is suitable for both shunting and regular transport. The locomotive is assembled using the body frame and running gear of the С30-7Ai locomotive by General Electric and modules designed by the European manufacturer CZ Loko.

The six-axle C30-MF weighs 135 tonnes, has an axle load of 22.5 tonnes, and is AC/DC electrically powered. The locomotive is powered by a Caterpillar 3512C HD diesel engine rated at 1,550 kW (2,079 hp) and has a top speed of 100 kilometres per hour.