Deux nouvelles locomotives Vectron MS dans le parc de Laude Smart Intermodal

Siemens has donated two multi-system Vectron MS locomotives to Laude Smart Intermodal SA. The purchase is financed from the funds of the National Reconstruction Plan, distributed by the Center for EU Transport Projects (CUPT), and from an investment loan from Siemens Financial Services in Poland, covering 95%. transaction value. The delivery is part of Laude’s investment plan worth over PLN 1 billion, focused on the development of intermodal transport in Central and Western Europe.

This is the second batch of Vectron MS locomotives in the Laude fleet. The company received the first vehicle of this type in February 2021. The current delivery is the implementation of the contract concluded in June 2025. The locomotives were handed over to the Poznań Łukasiewicz Institute of Technology.

Two new Vectron MS locomotives are another step in the implementation of our investment plan worth over PLN 1 billion. Laude is consistently building its position as an operator that not only serves the intermodal market, but also actively shapes it. Multi-system vehicles allow us to offer transport from Ukraine through Poland to Germany, and now also to Belgium, at prices and travel times competitive with road transport. It is this competitiveness that determines today whether the train is a real alternative to the truck.

– says Marcin Witczak, president of the management board of Laude Smart Intermodal SA

A proven platform for the intermodal market

Vectron MS locomotives are multi-system vehicles intended for international passenger and freight traffic. Both locomotives have a power of 6.4 MW when powered by alternating voltage and 6.0 MW when powered by direct voltage and are equipped with the ETCS system in the Baseline 3 specification. The vehicles are approved for operation in eleven European countries: Poland, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, the Netherlands, Romania, Bulgaria and – for the first time in the Laude fleet – in Belgium.

So far, over 2,900 locomotives from the Vectron family have been contracted for over 100 railway operators in Europe. These vehicles are approved for use in 20 countries and have traveled a total of over one billion kilometers. Polish operators – including PKP Intercity, PKP Cargo, DB Cargo Polska, Orlen Kolej, CARGOUNIT and Laude Smart Intermodal – have so far purchased over 170 Siemens electric locomotives.

Vectron is a platform that has proven its worth in the realities of European intermodal transport. Nearly 3,000 contracted locomotives and one billion kilometers traveled are concrete data confirming its reliability. Laude Smart Intermodal is developing cooperation with us and expanding its fleet with additional vehicles of our production. We support operators not only with the supply of rolling stock, but also with an extensive service network in Europe, including Poland, which translates into a high availability rate of locomotives in daily operation.

– says Michał Marciszewski, CFO of the Polish branch of Siemens Mobility.

Financing intermodal investments

The purchase of locomotives is an element of the Laude project submitted to the E2.1.3 “Intermodal transport” competition, organized by CUPT and financed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The aim of the program is to transfer cargo from road to rail through the development of intermodal transport.

Siemens Financial Services in Poland participates in the financing structure of the transaction and provides Laude Smart Intermodal with an investment loan for the purchase of both locomotives. Financing covers 95%. value of the transaction and is of a comprehensive nature – on the one hand, bridging, enabling the purchase to be completed before the refund is paid from the National Reconstruction Plan, and on the other hand, long-term, constituting permanent financing of the part not covered by the subsidy. This combination of an EU subsidy with external financing allows the operator to implement a capital-intensive investment without having to freeze significant own funds in one project.

This is the second financial transaction between Siemens Financial Services in Poland and Laude Smart Intermodal. In 2019, the company financed the purchase of the first Vectron MS locomotive. The current investment includes two vehicles, which means twice the scale of financing compared to the previous contract.

Poland is a natural transit corridor between Ukraine, Germany and North Sea ports, and intermodal transport is a market segment that should grow dynamically in the coming years. The role of financing institutions is to create conditions in which operators can translate investment plans into real rolling stock and infrastructure – without waiting many years for the accumulation of own funds. That is why we pay close attention to the Polish intermodal sector and support companies with a clearly defined development strategy.

– says Katarzyna Kaczmarek, CEO of Siemens Financial Services in Poland.

Source: Siemens Financial Services in Poland / Siemens Mobility Sp. z o. o. / Laude Smart Intermodal SA