Liebherr has presented its new railroad excavator under a new product name for the first time: the RE 25 M Litronic.
The model expands Liebherr’s existing portfolio with a machine in the 25-tonne class with hydrostatic rail wheel drive and a profiled uppercarriage.
The RE 25 M Litronic uses the proven components of the previous models and supplements them with an innovative undercarriage concept, a new uppercarriage design and a new operator’s cab with an intuitive control concept.
Liebherr, one of the largest construction equipment manufacturers in the world, has been developing railroad excavators since 1967.
At bauma 2025 in Germany, the world’s largest trade fair in the construction industry, Liebherr presented the new RE 25 M Litronic railroad excavator, its first model in the 24.4 to 25.7 tonne operating mass range.
The powerful machine is equipped with the proven engine of the A 922 Rail railroad excavator and an engine power of 120 kilowatts (kW).
In addition to the proven components, the new RE 25 M Litronic has a number of innovations that make the machine “the best solution in its weight class”, according to Liebherr.
Speaking to Rail Express at bauma 2025, Robin Steinhauser, Product Manager at Liebherr, said: “The RE 25 M has a short tail swing radius of 1.57 metres, which ensures that the rear of the machine always remains within the clearance profile when swinging.
“This increases safety and gives Liebherr the opportunity to access new markets with this requirement, such as France.”
The machine is equipped with a completely new double cab, and a number of new assistance systems, such as a 2D machine control system and a person detection system, which are available for the first time in the new railroad excavator.
Steinhauser said RE 25 M Litronic was getting a lot of interest at bauma.
“It’s a world premiere, so a lot of customers have been coming up to the stand to see the machine and get more information. They are very excited, just as we are!”
An innovative undercarriage concept
The new undercarriage Liebherr is presenting in the RE 25 M will be standard in all future rail machines.
The company said that the new rail guide system “sets the course for the future”. Thanks to the hydrostatic rail wheel drive, the railroad excavator can travel in the excavated state.
“We call this Category 9A according to European standards, but in Australia you call it Type 1,” said Steinhauser. “The hydrostatic rail wheel drive means that the drive is distributed across the four rail wheels.
“But this machine also features a second drive system, which is called Category 9C in Europe or Type 3 in Australia. If you want to have a lower gravity mass or better traction in dry conditions, you can lower the machine so the rubber wheels are in contact with the rail.”
This means that the RE 25 M can not only work and drive in one position, but also – where permitted – work in the lowered position and drive in the raised position.
“You can drive hydrostatic until you are at your job site, to avoid the risk of damaging any infrastructure, and then lower down to have more traction and stability. The hydrostatic drive allows you to easily clear train stops as well.”
This is made possible by a completely redesigned storing and oscillating system for the rail guide system. What’s more, the oscillating axle is adjustable: when the RE 25 M is in use, the oscillating axle locks to ensure a stable footing.
When driving, the oscillating axle is open, thus ensuring the best traction. Thanks to the newly developed rail axle, the machine has a drawbar pull of 50 kilonewton (kN) and, with the appropriate country-specific approval, can reach travel speeds of up to 40 kilometres per hour (km/h). In an emergency, the RE 25 M can be towed at up to 60 km/h.
Optionally, the undercarriage of the RE 25 M can be equipped with the centrally mounted two-point stabiliser to achieve higher loads. At the same time, however, the undercarriage remains compact, which means that visibility in the vicinity of the machine is not restricted and work can be carried out well at close range.
Due to the kinematics, the stabilisers remain very close to the machine even when extended, barely adding to the width. This also makes it possible to use the stabilisers in confined construction site conditions.
Maintenance-friendly design
In addition to the small tail swing radius, new designs on the RE 25 M’s uppercarriage ensure that the machine is easy to maintain. Despite the short tail swing radius, access to the uppercarriage is possible just behind the cab.
“The design of the counterweight also contributes to the machine’s maintenance-friendly design,” Steinhauser said. “The maintenance flaps are integrated into the counterweight and ensure optimal access to the hydraulic pump, and the counterweight can be easily removed for major maintenance.”
The new exhaust gas treatment system is located above the engine and can be folded up for maintenance.
New double cabin
The new storing of the double cabin with the pilot seat on the upper carriage increases driver comfort, according to Steinhauser.
“The RE 25 M offers a comfort seat as standard and has a completely new door system, as well as a new bearing,” he said.
“This enables the doors to open towards each other and swing around the B-pillar.”
The new cabin comes with the INTUSI adaptive operating concept, so the previous control panel on the steering column below the steering wheel is no longer needed.
In the future, this will be integrated into the INTUSI display, so there will be no restrictions in the field of vision.
Proven components
Steinhauser said customers can rely on proven Liebherr quality in the new railroad excavator, with both the hydraulic system and the engine.
“The innovative hydraulics concept of the new machine includes a Liebherr double variable displacement pump with independent regulating circuits and a flow rate of 2 x 220 l/min,” he said.
“This means that powerful hydraulic attachments can be operated independently of the working and driving movements of the Liebherr railroad excavator. In addition, a second high pressure circuit offers the option of directly controlling three hydraulic functions for special attachments.
“The Liebherr railroad excavator RE 25 M impresses with its performance: with its 120 kW / 163 HP engine, the machine achieves a high working speed with the usual fluid work movements.”
A quick coupling system
The wide range of Liebherr attachments makes the RE 25 M highly versatile. In particular, the new Solidlink 33-9 model has been specially developed for railroad excavators and adds further couplings to the fully automatic Solidlink quick coupling system, with all its advantages.
The expansion of the couplings to include a second high pressure circuit enables the use of hydraulic attachments such as packing tools in rail construction, Liebherr parallel grippers or Liebherr stick extensions.
The fully hydraulic quick coupling system Solidlink enables the attachments to be changed quickly and safely from the operator’s cab.
A new name
With its new product designation, the new RE 25 M Litronic emphasises the importance of the rail machines for the Liebherr site in Kirchdorf.
With its new name, Liebherr is highlighting the railroad excavator as a separate product line, distinguishing it from the wheeled excavators and thus giving it greater emphasis.
In principle, RE stands for “rail excavator”, the number indicates the operating mass and ‘M’ stands for the wheeled undercarriage. All future railroad excavators will follow this designation.
The A 922 Rail and A 924 Rail already available on the market will continue to operate under their familiar names.
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