Nordic Re-Finance, a locomotive leasing company from Sweden, ordered 16 heavy Re-620 freight locomotives from the Swiss rail freight operator SBB Cargo last year, with the option of a total of 80. The first locomotive has already arrived up north as of March 2025. But now, SBB Cargo is putting the order on hold: there is asbestos in the locomotives.
The work on the first delivered locomotive, which was about to have the ATC safety system installed, has been paused as a result of SBB’s announcement. “We received the announcement from SBB Cargo last week, but it is still mostly a question mark”, a representative of Nordic Re-Finance tells Swedish publication Järnvägar.nu.
“We don’t know how much asbestos is in the locomotives, we don’t know if and how SBB Cargo intends to decontaminate the locomotives, and we don’t know when we will hear back from Switzerland”, the representative added. “The only thing we know is that the sale of the locomotives has been stopped for the time being.” The only upside to the story, according to Nordic Re-Finance, is that the first delivered locomotive turned out very nice. The company decorated it in Swiss style as a tribute to the country and SBB.
The locomotives of type Re 620 are Swiss-made six-axle electric locomotives. They were in production in 1972 and between 1975 and 1980 and can reach a maximum speed of 140 kilometres per hour.