Swedish rail freight operator Väte Rail (re)launched a connection between Bohus and Varberg, along the country’s southwest coast, after state-owned company Green Cargo discontinued it. Moreover, with the beginning of the new year, the company started using hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to power its locomotives.
The Bohus-Varberg connection will run three times a week and it is on behalf of chemical company Nouryon, according to Swedish media Jarnvagar. This is not the first cooperation between Väte Rail and Nouryon. In January 2023, a service connecting Bohus with Ånge was established.
Other than having its locomotives now running on HVO, the company is looking to hydrogen as another power source. In an initiative also involving rolling stock lessor Hankavik, Väte Rail and its sister company Väte Trafik ordered 20 locomotives running on hydrogen from Polish manufacturer Pesa. The first two should be delivered over the next couple of years, with the remaining ones being delivered until 2030.