The number of passengers traveling over long distances has been climbing for years, and operators of high-speed trains face tight competition with airlines and new providers of long-distance, road-based services. Future-proof trains with reduced lifecycle costs and enhanced travel comfort are therefore more important than ever for securing and increasing high-speed rail transport.
S-Bahn Berlin GmbH has signed a framework contract with the consortium of Stadler Pankow GmbH and Siemens for the delivery of up to 1,380 vehicles. A firm order was placed for the first 106 trains. The 85 four-section and 21 two-section trains have a high triple-digit million-euro order volume. S-Bahn Berlin, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, plans to use the new trains on the Ringbahn lines (S 41 and S 42) as well as on the system's southeastern feeder lines S 47, S 46 and S 8. These lines comprise roughly one-third of the entire S-Bahn network in Berlin. The first ten vehicles will be ready to enter service as of 2020. Subsequently, all remaining vehicles will be delivered continuously to the Berlin system up to 2023. The vehicles will be manufactured and assembled at the Berlin plant operated by Stadler Pankow GmbH.
The national carrier Czech Railways (České dráhy – ČD) continues to modernize its fleet serving long-distance domestic and international lines. The consortium of Siemens Mobility and Škoda Transportation has won the tender for 20 Viaggio Comfort nine-car non-traction units including control cars, designed for a maximum operating speed of 230 km/h. The cars will be delivered from 2024 to 2026 and the order is valued at around half a billion EUR.
In May 2011, the German national railway company concluded a framework agreement with Siemens Mobility for up to 300 trainsets. At this time the largest train contract that Siemens has ever won in its corporate history.
The ICE 4 sets new standards in intercity traffic. A unique train concept has been developed, that means it can be individually adapted to the requirements of various transport tasks. The modular drive concept is based on independent Powercars with identical traction technology, resulting in more flexibility than ever before. High operational availability is guaranteed by a large number of reliable systems with high redundancy.
All in all, DB will be receiving 1,511 cars with which it can configure 50 12-car, 50 13-car and 37 7-car trainsets.
In addition, Deutsche Bahn has awarded Siemens Mobility a contract for the revision of 40 ICE 4 trains.
Estonian Railways (Eesti Raudtee) and Siemens Mobility – GRK Rail
Consortium signs a large-scale contract to modernize the railways in Estonia.
Estonian Railways has initiated a very ambitious investment plan which
will take the service quality, traffic management and safety of its rail infrastructure
to a new level by 2030. Between 2020 and 2024 it plans to upgrade the safety
systems on six lines of the rail network and upgrade approximately 50 stations
across the country. To deliver this modernization of the rail safety systems
(CCS), the contract is worth over € 115 million.
The agreement on modernizing the safety systems paves the way for
migrating the entire rail network to the European signalling standard, the
European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS / ETCS) in the future. The
agreement relates to the first and second phases of the modernization plan.
Migrating to ERTMS/ETCS is subject to the third phase.
Siemens Mobility is presenting the new Mireo Smart train. It enables operators to quickly expand their capacity and ensures profitable operation thanks to its attractive price, low maintenance costs and very high degree of reliability.
Connected and self-driving vehicles are on the horizon. Autonomous taxis and minibuses could cover the last mile between homes and public mass transit and long-distance transport hubs, helping make private cars superfluous in cities and relieving congestion. In rail transport as well, fully automated systems and connectivity can help satisfy the rapidly growing demand for mobility. Making vehicles and infrastructure more intelligent can ensure better availability and make mobility safer. All this adds up to vastly improved urban environments.
Siemens is working with municipalities, public transit authorities and research institutes to develop these transport concepts.
Labeled as the project of the century for the German metropolitan region, the Rhine-Ruhr express (RRX) will help alleviate the continuously worsening transportation issues along the Rhine and Ruhr from 2018. The municipalities involved in the new RRX rail transport concept commissioned Siemens to supply 82 electric multiple units, type Desiro HC, and to provide maintenance services for a period of 32 years. With a total volume of more than 1.7 billion euros, this is the largest regional rail service order in Germany so far for Siemens.
The region is one of the largest conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately ten million and numerous transit routes. On the main section between Cologne and Dortmund in particular, mobility has been heavily restricted for years now by overstretched public transport networks and train connections. Through a targeted extension of the railway network and the shift of traffic from road to rail this enables, the RRX is expected to replace roughly 31,000 individual car trips every working day. The first RRX trains will begin operating punctually with the change of the rail system's timetable on December 9, 2018. Commercial operation will begin on Line RE 11 that connects Düsseldorf, Essen, Dortmund, Hamm, Paderborn and Kassel. During rush hours the eventual target is one train every 15 minutes.