Lokoop
| Lokoop AG (LAG) | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1994 |
| resolution | 2003 |
| Reason for dissolution | liquidation |
| Seat |
Weinfelden , Switzerland
|
| Branch | transport |
The Lokoop AG (LAG) was one of the Swiss Südostbahn (SOB), the Mittelthurgaubahn (MThB) and the travel agency Mittelthurgau based (RMT) companies for rental of locomotives based in Weinfelden .
history
Since the introduction of the regular timetable in 1982, the number of passengers on the Swiss Southeast Railway (SOB) has increased, but the financial framework only allowed the procurement of used vehicles. They found what they were looking for at the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR), from which one could rent the four-axle 243 922 from 1989 and the six-axle 250 252 from 1984 from 1990 . The comparatively modern locomotives were not for sale, however, instead the DR offered locomotives of the older class 242 (originally E 42) for sale, which were parked from 1993, but were only suitable for the flatlands.
The Mittelthurgau Railway (MThB) was particularly interested in this, as it was planning to enter into locomotive rental and rail freight transport on a broad front. The liberalization of rail freight transport was only in preparation in 1993, but it was foreseeable that neither the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) nor the Berner Alpenbahngesellschaft Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon (BLS) would sell their mountain-suitable locomotives to potentially growing competitors. The so-called KTU locomotives of the Re 456 series were designed for the 50 per mil ramps of the SOB, but exceeded the financial possibilities of the SOB and MThB, which offered a model conversion of the 242 series.
The simple calculation of the MThB was that for the price of a new construction locomotive, several copies of the BR 242 could be taken over by the DR at almost the scrap value and probably inexpensively prepared for multiple traction and operation on steep routes. The low price would also compensate for the disadvantage that, depending on the length and weight of the train, between two and four locomotives have to be used. The SOB was won over to create the locomotive pool required for this, although it focused heavily on its own needs; The Mittelthurgau travel agency (RMT), which had bought together older rolling stock and mainly offered nostalgic and special trips, also saw the locomotive pool as an opportunity to access or broker traction services cheaply. For this purpose, Lokoop AG (LAG) was founded in July 1994.
If the SOB and the MThB were still negotiating with the DR, it was replaced on January 1, 1994 by the newly merged Deutsche Bahn AG (DB). Between 1993 and 1995, a total of 21 copies were imported, these being formally obtained from MThB (16 pieces) and SOB (5 pieces) and each converted at Stadler Rail . The locomotives were first delivered as the Ae 476 series. By 1995, the ten locomotives 471–479 and 470 were delivered to MThB, and the five locomotives 465–469 to SOB.
The completed locomotives were formally transferred to Lokoop and transferred to their numbering scheme (Ae 477 900 ff.), Whereby the SOB kept "its" Ae 476 468; Of the remaining six MThB locomotives, two went directly to the Chemins de fer fribourgeois Gruyère – Friborg – Morat (GFM), while the remaining four were finally taken over directly by Lokoop as locomotives 914–917.
The liberalization of rail freight transport in Switzerland took place in 1999 and Lokoop, the majority of which acted as the freight transport division of MThB, was able to attract SBB freight transport customers with favorable offers. In addition, MThB ordered six new locomotives from Bombardier Transportation , which corresponded to the German class 145 ; these were delivered to MThB in 2000 and registered with them as Re 486 651-656, but mostly used in freight transport services of the Lokoop.
In March 2001 it became known that the SOB and the Bodensee-Toggenburg-Bahn (BT) were planning a merger and had signed a joint declaration of intent. If it was initially assumed that the merged company would keep the LAG stake, it was decided in the course of the company valuation and the merger negotiations to sell the stake in full that same year. This underscored the factual status of Lokoop as a freight transport division of MThB, since basically only services were provided for the parent company.
The financial difficulties of the Mittelthurgau Railway (MThB) became evident in the course of 2002, and in October 2002 the company had to file for bankruptcy, which, among other things, initiated the liquidation of Lokoop AG. The SBB then took over the employees, the rolling stock, the depot and the route infrastructure of the MThB, as well as the rolling stock of the Lokoop consisting of the 18 locomotives of the type Ae 477.The latter were assigned to SBB Cargo and were given the SBB designation on paper Ae 411 001-018, however, were turned off. As early as March 2003, the locomotives could be sold to the Westfälische Almetalbahn (WAB) in Germany, with the contractual requirement that they no longer be used in Switzerland.
In April 2003 the last general meeting of the LAG took place at which the dissolution of the company was decided. The decision was then added to the company name in the commercial register with the official addition in liquidation . With the expiry of the minimum deadlines for the regular liquidation procedure, the company was finally officially deleted from the commercial register in July 2004.
According to information from the SBB through its subsidiary Thurbo in October 2002, to which large parts of the MThB were transferred for its own planned operation, Lokoop had bank liabilities of 9.2 million francs viewed in isolation, which even after depreciation amounted to an investment of a good 500 '000 francs per locomotive. The four former SBB Re 4/4 I , which were bought by private individuals after they were scrapped and later handed over to MThB / RMT / LAG for lending via the public- reluctant Classic Rail , were returned to their owners. The six Re 486s were the first application for locomotive rental abroad for the relatively young SBB Cargo. With 35 copies of the successor generation Traxx AC1 in delivery and a further 15 copies of the Traxx AC2 in the order books, the small series, which can only be used in Germany, was sold to Mitsui Rail Capital Europe in 2005 .
After deleting the Lokoop, the remaining “memorabilia” went back to Germany regardless: the GFM, which had meanwhile become the Freiburgische Verkehrsbetriebe (TPF), sold their two locomotives (Ae 417 191–192) to the Eggegebirgsbahn in 2006 . The longest survived was the SOB machine 468, which had been given the name Ae 476 012 under the merged SOB : it went to WAB in 2008 like the Lokoop machines before.
Rolling stock
| model series | Manufacturer | Construction year | origin | number of pieces | Discarded | Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| series | Numbers | total | Liq. | ||||||
| Locomotives | |||||||||
| Ae 477 | 900-909 |
LEW (at) STAG |
1967-1971 | MThB (1996) | (Ex) 10 | 0 | 2002 | ex MThB Ae 476 470-479 | |
| 910-912 | 1967-1971 | SOB (1996) | (Ex) 4 | ex SOB Ae 476 465-467 | |||||
| 913 | 1976 | ex SOB Ae 476 469 | |||||||
| 914-915 | 1976 | DB (1996) | (Ex) 4 | ex DB 142 288, 287 | |||||
| 916-917 | 1968 | ex DB 142 134, 154 | |||||||
| Ub = takeover from outside stock (used vehicle); Um = conversion from our own stock | |||||||||
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lokoop AG , Commercial Register of the Canton of Thurgau: Company dissolved by resolution of the General Assembly in April 2003, officially deleted in July 2004
- ↑ MThB: The solution is emerging , communication from SBB