Stadler has secured a CHF 100 million contract to supply 11 metre-gauge locomotives for the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) and Matterhorn Gotthard Railway (MGBahn) in Switzerland.

The locomotives will replace older ones that are reaching the end of their service, and designed to harmonise and expand the fleet.

They will be built at Bussnang in north-east Switzerland, with eight locomotives going to the Rhaetian Railway and three to the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway.

To provide flexibility and operational efficiency, the locomotives will be hybrids, able to operate from overhead lines or by diesel engines, They will be built to metre-gauge with four axles and a single-axle drive, and a maximum speed of 100 km/h.

The eight new locomotives for the Rhaetian Railway will allow it to withdraw five locomotives from service and have three to minimise disruption by positioning more locomotives along the route.

This is essential, as many sections of the network do not have road access so if they break down or experience an incident or fault, they can be removed quickly.

The three new locomotives for the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway will replace its ageing HGm 4/4 61-62 locomotives and will be used for maintenance, upgrading the railway infrastructure, and clearing snow from the Oberalp Pass in winter.

As well as the new locomotives for the Rhaetian Railway and the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway, in October 2024, Stadler signed a contract with the Montreux-Berner Oberland-Bahn (MOB) for six metre-gauge locomotives of a similar type, and on 10 December 2024, Stadler signed a contract for a single locomotive with the Transports de la region Morges-Bi re-Cossonay (MBC).

The railways are all partners in RAILplus, and will share the one-off costs associated with the manufacture and delivery of the new locomotives.

In October, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Transport (FOT) authorised the country’s first removable solar power plant to be installed between the tracks on the Swiss Federal Railway.