SFBW, the rolling stock leasing company
owned by the German state of Baden-Württemberg, has signed a contract with
Alstom for the supply of an additional 26 Coradia Max EMUs. The contract is
worth €500m and includes full-service maintenance until the end of 2055.
Deliveries are due to start in mid to late
2028, Alstom says. In May 2022 SFBW awarded Alstom a contract worth €2.5bn to
supply and maintain over 30 years 130 Coradia Max EMUs. It was at that time the
largest contract ever won by Alstom in Germany, and includes options for up to
100 additional trains.
The first Coradia Max EMUs for
Baden-Württemberg are due to enter service in December. SFBW will make them
available to DB Regio Baden-Württemberg and Arverio to operate lots 1 and 2 of
the Stuttgart-Bodensee Network 35. They will be deployed on regional express
services, making use of their maximum speed of 200km/h, which Alstom says is
the highest of any regional train in Germany.
Each four-car train is 106m long and
consists of two double-deck end cars and two single-deck intermediate cars with
a total of 380 seats. The interiors will feature lounge areas as well as
conference and family compartments and feature level boarding.
The trains will be equipped with ETCS Level
3 and for automatic train operation (ATO) at Grade of Automation 2 (GoA2), as
lines in Baden-Württemberg are being resignalled with ETCS under the Digital
Node Stuttgart (DKS) project.
“We are investing a total
of around €3bn in 156 Coradia Max trains,” says Baden-Württemberg transport
minister, Winfried Hermann.
“With these vehicles, we
will be able to significantly improve local and regional transport services,
especially after Stuttgart 21 goes into operation.”
