Republic Of Ireland Rail Project Goes To Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce and the state railways of the Republic of Ireland have signed a contract for rebuilding three MTU PowerPacks.

The PowerPacks are deployed to drive a Class 22000 Irish Rail railcar and are to be reconstruct with new EcoWorld transmissions from ZF in an effort to make them both more efficient and even quieter in operation. The diesel multiple unit circulates on the Dublin – Cork line and following the PowerPack rebuilds will boast savings of up to 19% in both fuel and CO², the company said.

“We have been seeking a more efficient drive solution and Rolls-Royce has advised us on what would be the perfect concept,” said Peter Smyth, chief mechanical engineer at Irish Rail. “Their calculations showed that we would be able to make significant fuel savings if we replaced the current gear transmissions with EcoWorld units from ZF.”

MTU PowerPacks are compact drive system packages that incorporate not only the engine and transmission but everything else required for rail traction including the cooling system and exhaust aftertreatment. MTU was the first supplier to develop this concept for worldwide use over 20 years ago. Since then over 6800 PowerPacks have been delivered to rail customers all over the world.