Rental of rail vehicles

Northrail is an all-round service provider for the leasing of diesel, electric and hybrid locomotives of all performance classes for shunting, feeder and line service. We take over the entire technical and also commercial management for the approximately 450 locomotives, multiple units and passenger coaches that we manage. Our work often begins before the vehicles are even on their wheels. As a moderator between vehicle operators and manufacturers, we accompany the development of the vehicles and manage the construction phase from the specifications to commissioning.

Northrail takes care of the marketing, the initial and subsequent leasing as well as the technical asset management of the vehicles. In addition to construction support, this includes the timely compliance with all maintenance and inspection measures. In the area of commercial asset management, Northrail takes on tasks such as portfolio controlling, reporting and insurance claims processing. The service package is rounded off by owner and ECM activities.

Range of Services

As convinced railway people, we know how important it is to operate reliably in the market, but also to be able to react quickly and flexibly to market developments if necessary. All our services for rail transport and industrial companies, ports or shunting service providers are geared towards this.

Northrail leases hybrid and diesel locomotives for shunting, feeder and mainline services as well as electric and hybrid locomotives for mainline services in nine European countries on behalf of various portfolio companies and private and institutional investors. We cover the short-, medium- and long-term vehicle requirements of our tenants quickly and easily and also work with them to develop solutions and ideas for spot transport, short-term peak coverage and even complete fleet concepts.

The variety of types and services in our fleet allows our customers to make operational adjustments – even at short notice. To this end, we continuously purchase suitable new or also young used rail vehicles, or actively accompany new vehicle developments from the drawing board to commissioning. For the operation of rail vehicles, we support our customers with all relevant technical and commercial services.

Investment Management

With a 30% market share, Northrail is the number one European-based rental provider of locomotives for shunting and short/medium-haul operations and is also very prominently represented with innovative mainline locomotives in selected markets.

This is also based on the highly specialised and innovative rail financing expertise of Northrail Investment Management GmbH, which continuously presents suitable rail investment opportunities to its international private and institutional investors. All investments benefit from in-depth market knowledge, a broad network in the equity and debt markets, a high level of technical expertise and the daily handling of leasing as well as buying and selling of locomotives and multiple units. Together with our investors and tenants, we take care of a smooth process from the initial idea to the implementation of innovative investment and financing projects.

The railway will play an increasingly important role in the future. That is why we arrange and structure investments in rail vehicles. The focus is on locomotives and multiple units, or passenger coaches, preferably entire portfolios of new or used vehicles. In addition, we are also involved in publicly tendered regional rail transport projects. We have deliberately selected the main European markets as target markets for our investments.