Metafrax is updating its fleet of locomotives

Metafrax Chemicals has acquired two new diesel locomotives. The locomotives of the TEM18DM series, which were manufactured by the Bryansk Machine Plant, will be used to perform shunting and export work on factory tracks, transportation of raw materials and finished products.

"The renewal of the rolling stock fleet is taking place under the company's investment program. The new locomotives will replace the previous TEM-2, whose service life expires this year, after which they will be prohibited from being used on the main industrial routes of Russian Railways," said Igor Chukreev, head of the transport department.

Metafrax specialists have been cooperating with the Bryansk plant for several years. In 2020, the manufacturer built two diesel locomotives of the same series for the company. During this time, the employees of the railway workshop highly estimated the machine, which is characterized by good performance, ease of maintenance and comfort.

"The locomotives that came to us a week ago are of a more modern modification. The power of each is 1200 horsepower. The machine is equipped with an automatic start system that starts the engine if its temperature drops below the set values. The locomotive is equipped with a modern fire extinguishing system, which allows to quickly localize the fire. There are traction engines of a new modification, they are more complicated in design, but more reliable," said Andrey Nikolenko, head of the depot of the railway workshop.

The locomotive is equipped with an automated control system. All necessary operating parameters – oil, water temperature and others – are displayed on the driver's console display. The cabin was also improved, for comfortable and safe operation of the driver, it was equipped with a microclimate system, including heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

"The service life of the TEM18DM diesel locomotive is 32 years. According to the existing standards, we had maintenance of old machines once every 30 days. Now, the manufacturer has increased the repair time for these locomotives - once every 40 days. Inter-train repairs also increased from 6 to 9 months. This suggests that modern locomotives have a greater reserve of reliability," added Dmitry Vetoshkin, head of the railway workshop.

The new locomotives have passed the commissioning procedure. The Federal Agency for Railway Transport assigned numbers to them, acts of commissioning were drawn up, information about new cars was sent to Russian Railways for registration of their admission to public railways.

" Also, in the near future we will have to conduct technical training of locomotive crews and repair specialists for further operation and repairs", - said the head. " After these mandatory procedures, new diesel locomotives will be put into operation".

From the first days, the new locomotives have been under the close attention of Igor Polozov, a rolling stock repairman (on the picture). He thoroughly studies and masters the novelty in order to further train the repair staff.

Igor is the oldest employee at the railway depot. He worked for more than 30 years as a machinist, he knows a lot about these big cars. As a master, he has been engaged in the maintenance of the locomotive fleet for nine years, organizing and conducting scheduled repairs of locomotives. According to the workshop management, he independently and successfully mastered all the new locomotives received in recent years, studied all the subtleties and nuances, understood the work of automation and modern systems. "A true professional in his field," colleagues confirm.