Fuel additives generally mean adulterating diesel with additional chemicals. This trial will assess whether Fuelcare’s additive can enhance diesel engine performance. The partners also want to measure any reduced emissions and extend the distances GBRf locomotives can travel between refuelling.

Committing biocide to protect engines

Fuelcare is a UK-based specialist in fuel quality management, industrial additives, and biocides, serving sectors from rail and marine to aviation and offshore energy. The Shrewsbury-headquartered company provides products and services designed to prevent microbial contamination, maintain fuel integrity, and optimise diesel and hydrocarbon fuel performance. Its expertise includes fuel testing, laboratory analysis, additive injection systems, and cloud-based monitoring solutions, all supporting operational reliability and regulatory compliance.

Biocides are additives that prevent microbial growth in diesel fuel, helping to keep engines and fuel systems clean, reliable, and free from corrosion or filter blockages. The trial using the technique aims to evaluate its effectiveness in an operational environment. Running until 22 March, it is among the largest fuel additive initiatives undertaken by any UK rail freight operator. There is a Europe-wide drive towards cleaner fuels, even though rail freight offers a significantly cleaner way of moving goods, when compared with other diesel-powered options – notably road haulage. Success could improve operational efficiency across GBRf’s fleet and reinforce the company’s commitment to a greener, more sustainable railway.

Perfect partners

It’s no surprise that the Peterborough-based operator should be the partner in such a trial. GB Railfreight (GBRf) continues to take a progressive approach to modern traction, combining operational efficiency with environmental performance.

A key part of this strategy is the significant leasing of a fleet of bi-mode Class 99 locomotives, capable of running on electric or diesel power. This flexibility allows GBRf to reduce emissions, operate across both electrified and non-electrified routes, and support a more sustainable rail freight network while maintaining high levels of reliability and service.

DB Cargo Italia has been testing the use of the plant-based fuel at its shunting stations in Cervignano and Brescia. The tests were successful enough to prompt the company to implement the switch throughout the country.

The pros and cons

“The primary difference between diesel and HVO is that the latter is not a fossil fuel”, explains Emanuele Vender, managing director at DB Cargo Italia. “HVO is renewable and also contributes to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. And because the chemical composition is also similar, our existing diesel engines can run on it.”

Vender explains that DB Cargo Italia incurs similar costs for using HVO as it would for using diesel. Performance-wise, HVO also shows comparable results: “It might be a couple of percentage points lower, but it is a negligible difference”, says Vender.

However, it is not as easy to get your hands on HVO when compared with diesel. “You need the right supplier with the right type of HVO. It ’is not as simple as with diesel”, Vender explains. Nevertheless, DB Cargo Italia intends to stick with HVO in the long term. “It is worth it for the environmental benefits. Despite rail cargo already being the most socially sustainable transport mode, at DB Cargo we always try to improve this aspect further”, says Vender.

Experiments

DB Cargo Italia is not the first DB Cargo subsidiary that has tested HVO as an alternative to diesel. Other DB Cargo subsidiaries and rail operators have also tested HVO as an alternative to diesel. These trials mirror a broad effort to look for more environmentally friendly fuels while maintaining operational efficiency.

Earlier, DB Cargo tested HVO at shunting locations in Bremerhaven and Munich. The Dutch north east also saw DB Cargo experiments with HVO, as well as DB Cargo UK, which tested HVO on a Class 60 locomotive. Similarly, Colas Rail also experimented with HVO in the UK.

Also read:

• Italy awards contracts worth 477 million euros for Rome-Pescara line upgrade
• Subsidy for rail freight rolling stock in Italy will remain after all
• Switzerland to invest in CargoBeamer’s Domodossola terminal

Predictability

Because of the high electricity prices, it is important that railway companies can procure electricity on the basis of daily or longer-term purchases. Hungrail therefore proposes that the procurement of traction energy is possible for at least a quarterly period. In the case of favorable prices, the conditions for longer-term procurement should be met, it says.

In line with this, the infrastructure operator should make the traction energy prices known to the contracting railway companies at least 30 days before the given quarter, so that the companies do not find out afterwards what traction energy price they paid to perform their task.

Most favourable price

Hungrail also proposes that infrastructure managers work together with the ministry, which exercises ownership rights, to obtain electricity at the most favorable price available on the market.

And, a framework for independent energy procurement should be developed and established by the beginning of 2024, so that, in contrast to the current situation, railway companies can manage the risks arising from energy procurement and, where appropriate, purchase the amount of electricity needed to run a train at a more favorable price. In order to streamline all of this, Hungrail offers to set up a working group with the ministries involved.

Dramatic price increase

The energy prices for rail in Hungary have seen a tenfold increase, according to Hungrail. The impact of this increase is more dramatic than in other European countries due to the procurement procedure in Hungary. Railway companies and operators have had to adjust their pricing multiple times, and some are reported to have cancelled services that had become unprofitable.

But also in other European countries the impact on rail is high. According to a survey of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) on electricity prices, railway companies are paying up to 420€ per megawatt hour (MWh) in 2022. On average, the electricity price has at least tripled compared to 2021. Railway companies currently struggle to plan for 2023 as many energy contracts need to be re-negotiated and the price is now forecast in some cases to exceed 500€/MWh.

EU proposals

On a EUropean level too, proposals have been made in support of the railway industry. CER has just put forward a number of proposals to all EU Ministers. Firstly, railways must be included in a strategic toolkit for saving energy. Member States should pursue a holistic approach in introducing demand reduction targets and promote the energy-efficiency-first principle in prioritising the sector for energy consumption.

The European Commission proposal on capping the price of low-cost electricity such as wind, solar, and nuclear is a good step, but the €180/MWh ceiling is considerably higher than the electricity price before the crisis, according to the CER. The price cap should therefore be lowered. Finally, Member States should take into consideration rail’s high exposure in the electricity market when allocating the surplus revenues resulting from the application of the cap.

Free webinar on Hungary

Do you want to hear more about Hungary and the high energy prices? Today, Friday 30 September, we organise a free webinar about the Rail Freight Potential of Hungary. It starts at 1pm. The speakers are:

• Ádám Tálosi , member of the board at East West Gate
• Thomas Palecek, RTSB
• Akos Ersek, UIRR
• Bíró Koppány Ajtony, mlszksz

Only for kilometres on road

“In this serious and uncertain international situation due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, as you know, the energy crisis of the last few months is also worsening, with the price of diesel fuel constantly rising”, Furlog said today.

“Despite our efforts to maintain price stability by absorbing the fluctuations in input costs, these unregulated and unpredictable increases are inevitably having an impact on transport services and thus on our offerings.”

It does make the remark that its transport services cover most of the distance by rail, which means that “the fuel surcharge will be calculated only on the kilometers actually covered by road for the first and last mile, and that the impact on costs will be moderate.”

Worrying trend

However, Furlog is not the only company signalling a concerning upward trend of fuel prices. Especially in the road sector, these price fluctuations are hard to absorb. In the Netherlands, the government announced today a number of measures to alleviate the pressure on the market.

“The price for petrol now consists of about half excise duties and VAT, and the price of diesel about 40 pe rcent. The excise duty will be reduced from 1 April by 17 cents per liter of unleaded petrol and 11 cents per liter of diesel”, it has just announced in a statement.

The European Commission is moving in another direction. In a statement published today, it announced that by mid-May, it wants to present a RePowerEU plan to phase out dependencies on Russian fossil fuels by 2027. “We are too dependent on Russian fossil fuels and in particular, gas. We need to diversify suppliers, notably by switching to LNG and increase our share of renewables.”