CargoNet AS

Updated: August 2026 – In Germany it’s Class 189, in Denmark Litra ME, in Switzerland Re 4/4 – and in Norway? There, the vehicle says El 14 or Di 8. CargoNet AS is the ideal way into this system, because it brings both traction types together in everyday operations. This page explains the Norwegian vehicle scheme so that afterwards you can read any Norwegian vehicle list without translation.

What is CargoNet AS?

CargoNet AS is a Norwegian freight operator. The company name is unusually clear: “Cargo” names the market segment, “Net” refers to network thinking in transport. The legal form suffix AS is the Norwegian limited company (equivalent to a German AG or GmbH) – and explicitly not the same as the Danish A/S with a slash or the Swedish AB.

For you in the field, that means: if there are freight wagons behind the loco and the data panel shows NO, you’re in the right segment. Which services the company actually runs changes with contracts and market conditions – always check the current situation for these.

El, Di and Type: the Norwegian vehicle scheme

Now to the real core. Norwegian rail vehicles carry a code for the traction type plus a type number. That’s all – and it’s precisely this economy that makes the system quick to learn.

Code	Meaning	Example	What you see in the field
El	Electric locomotive	El 14, El 18	pantograph on the roof, overhead wire above the track
Di	Diesel locomotive	Di 4, Di 8	radiator housings, exhaust, no pantograph
Type	Railcar or multiple unit	Type 69, Type 72, Type 75	passenger compartment in the traction unit itself
Skd	small shunting unit	Skd with a number suffix	short design, slow running around the station

What matters is what the code does not tell you: nothing about power, nothing about wheel arrangement, nothing about the manufacturer. It names exclusively the traction type. The number after it is a type number, not an encoded technical detail.

With multiple units, you’ll come across a duplication: depending on the source, you’ll find the same numbers as “Type 72” or with the prefix BM, as in this database. In each case the same vehicle family is meant – it’s a matter of writing convention, not two different vehicles.

Four countries, four systems compared directly

The Norwegian scheme only really makes sense when you put it next to the neighbouring systems. All four solve the same task – naming vehicles unambiguously – in fundamentally different ways.

Country	System	Example pattern	What the designation contains
Norway	Traction code plus number	El 18, Di 4, Type 75	traction type
Denmark	Litra, letters only	MR, ME, EG, ER	design and use
Germany	Class number	Class 189, Class 294	number range by vehicle type
Switzerland	Letter code plus axle fraction	Re 4/4, Ee 3/3	category and axle ratio

You can see this in practice with four vehicles: the Norwegian freight locomotive El 14, the Danish diesel railcar Litra MR/MRD, the German multi-system loco Class 189 and the Swiss Re 420 (Re 4/4 II). Four designations, four ways of thinking – and none is “more correct” than the others. How to approach an unfamiliar vehicle systematically is shown in the guide to identifying classes.

Type designation and vehicle number are two different things

A mistake that happens particularly often when making the jump to Norway: the type designation is taken for the vehicle number. “El 18” names an entire vehicle family – not a single vehicle. Only the full number from the data panel makes your sighting unambiguous.

You need the same separation for the company: the vehicle designation says nothing about who is running the train. Several companies are active in Norwegian freight, such as Grenland Rail AS or the entry Green Cargo AB, listed with a Norwegian country suffix. None of them runs the network – Bane NOR SF is responsible for that. In passenger services, the state railway Vy operates; it was called NSB until 2019. On the branch at Myrdal, tourist services in turn run under the Flåmsbana brand. How to keep these levels cleanly apart is described in the guide Who’s actually running it? Identifying railway operators.

Why four systems exist side by side

It’s natural to ask why Europe hasn’t agreed on one designation system. The answer is historical: each network has managed its own vehicles for decades, and a designation system is deeply embedded in operating documents, workshop processes and spare parts lists. A change would drag all of that along with it – without anyone travelling any better as a result.

For you as an observer, the coexistence is more of an advantage than an obstacle. A designation system also reveals how the country in question thinks about its vehicles: Switzerland emphasises the mechanics, Germany the order of the fleet, Denmark the use, Norway the traction. Once you’ve seen the four systems side by side, you’ll understand not only the designations but also a bit of railway culture – and you won’t mix them up any more.

Common mix-ups

• El 18 noted as a vehicle number – that’s the family, not the individual vehicle.
• AS confused with A/S – without a slash it’s Norwegian, with a slash Danish.
• Di taken for a power rating – the code only names the traction type.
• Type and BM taken for two systems – the same vehicle family, a different writing convention.
• Similar names abroad read as a group connection – similar names don’t prove a corporate link.

Verdict

CargoNet AS stands for Norwegian freight – and for a designation system that you’ll have mastered after ten minutes: El for electric, Di for diesel, Type for multiple units. If you know these three codes, you can read Norwegian vehicle lists without looking anything up and place sightings correctly throughout the country.