Railpool, a leading railway leasing company, is expanding its cross-border passenger transport service footprint. In the future, the company plans to provide rolling stock in a targeted manner to enhance Europe's international railway connectivity.
I. Core Demands and Market Pain Points of European Rail Transport
The current European rail transport sector is facing two key challenges:
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Urgent Need for Transport Upgrade: There is an increasing demand for efficient and sustainable expansion of rail transport, especially for solutions that can shift passenger flows from air and road to rail. Such solutions need to be flexible, interoperable, and highly comfortable, but current operators are unable to meet these requirements.
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Prominent Market Access Barriers: There are significant obstacles in Europe's open-access passenger rail market. New operators can hardly obtain modern rolling stock if they want to launch services quickly. Due to the cautious attitude of financial institutions and manufacturers, there is a shortage of ready-to-use new rolling stock in the market. As a result, charter trains, night trains, and international open-access services still rely on old carriages from state-owned railways, which are neither up to modern standards nor approaching the end of their service life.
II. Railpool's Targeted Solutions
To respond to market demands and solve industry pain points, Railpool has launched a customized leasing solution for passenger carriages. Torsten Lehnert, CEO of Railpool, clearly stated that this solution aims to actively meet Europe's demand for efficient and sustainable rail transport solutions and welcomes inquiries from all parties. Meanwhile, to gather market feedback, Railpool has released a brochure focusing on passenger trains hauled by Siemens Vectouro and Vectrain locomotives, promoting the full-service leasing model.
III. Core Advantages of Locomotive-Hauled Train Leasing Solution
The locomotive-hauled train leasing solution launched by Railpool has three core advantages:
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Operational Flexibility and Adaptability: It can help operators quickly increase transport capacity and ensure maximum vehicle availability. With flexible vehicle configuration and diverse interior and exterior designs, it can accurately match different application scenarios and comfort requirements.
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Convenience for Cross-Border Operation: The trains have obtained operation authorization for routes in multiple European countries such as Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, and approval in other countries is also expected to progress. Cross-border operation can be realized without large-scale modifications or lengthy approval procedures.
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Optimized Matching and Cost Efficiency: Railpool has a large locomotive fleet, allowing customers to lease carriages together with locomotives. Compared with mainstream EMUs (Electric Multiple Units), this solution can avoid the excessively high ETCS upgrade cost for small fleets (locomotives equipped with ETCS can directly meet this demand). In areas lacking high-speed transportation options, the train's speed of 200-230 km/h (with Vectouro/Vectrain trains reaching a maximum speed of 230 km/h) can serve as a reliable alternative to high-speed EMUs.
In addition, Trainpool, a business unit under Railpool, has provided a practical case: a 7-car Vectouro train (with optional driving trailer) paired with a Vectron locomotive (authorized in Germany and Austria) with a speed of 230 km/h. The carriages feature good sealing performance and spacious aisles, with each carriage approximately 20 meters long and a total seating capacity of over 390, fully meeting cross-border operation needs. At the same time, the solution objectively points out that distributed-power EMUs have better performance, but this advantage is limited by timetables and line characteristics, with the Hamburg-Munich route being a typical example.
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