Yesterday, the freight operator Medway, owned by the MSC group, presented two new acquisitions at the Railway Museum in Madrid. In keeping with tradition, the company has named them after the daughters of its employees.
These are 256-202 and 256-206, named Érica and Aína, respectively. These locomotives are part of the 16 the company ordered from Stadler in November 2021 and will be registered in Spain from 256-201 to 256-016.
Carlos Vasconcelos, president of Medway, attended the event. He highlighted the tribute MSC has historically paid its workers by naming its ships after their female relatives. This custom has now been extended to the rail operator’s locomotives, including throwing a bottle of champagne.
According to Listadotren, the first locomotives of the 256 series owned by Medway entered service on 2 January. Among them is the 256-202, Érika. The 256-206 has not yet entered service as it is pending paperwork, so yesterday, it was towed to the Railway Museum of Madrid, located in the old Delicias station.
Medway has already had five EURO6000 locomotives from Stadler since May 2022. However, unlike the 200 sub-series locomotives, they are leased from Alpha Trains.