Operail sends another Estonian-built locomotive across the bay to become the third C30-MF to be registered with Finnish railways

Last week, Operail sent across the bay the third C30-M locomotive built in Estonia at the Tapa depot. The locomotive called Paul was partially dismantled and loaded onto a ship at the port of Paldiski. The locomotive was reassembled at the port of Hanko in Finland and transported to the depot in Kotka, where it is prepared for use on the Finnish railway. The locomotive will then be registered with the Finnish railways and officially become a C30-MF.

The locomotive, which just arrived in Finland, was named after Paul Lukka, a former member of the management board of Operail who played an important role in the operation of Operail in Finland.

The first C30-M(F) locomotive, named Jakob and built at the Tapa depot of Operail, received the 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 locomotive had 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 had to be made to the refuelling and radio systems, for example. The C30-M adapted for Finnish railways was renamed C30-MF. The second C30-M(F) locomotive, named Ants, arrived in Finland in May this year. The locomotives built in Estonia will be used for shunting by Finnish rail freight companies.

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

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.