DB tests new synthetic fuel power unit

DB Cargo is striving to be at the forefront of using sustainable fuel in its locomotive fleet by supporting Rolls-Royce Power Systems’ new series of power units that reduce CO emissions 2 by 90%.

The secret is their use of synthetic fuel instead of conventional diesel, and RRPS is increasing its present range of low-noise MTU power units from three to five, and running trials across Germany in Class 294s.

MTU equipment in the UK so far has principally been in the re-equipped High Speed Train power cars, but not with Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil fuel.

RRPS, based in Friedrichshafen on the Swiss/Austrian border, is the latest incarnation of a company that made significant inroads in the UK market in the 1950s and 1960s. Its Maybach power unit equipped BR Western Region diesel-hydraulics.

The company became part of the Tognum Corporation before adopting its present Rolls-Royce name after another takeover in 2011.