Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler has agreed a 250 million euro deal to build 28 regional trains for German train operator WestfalenBahn.
Fifteen FLIRT and 13 KISS EMUs will be delivered by December 2015 on behalf of ROSCO Alpha Trains.
The new rolling stock will operate on Germany’s Emsland line and Mittelland line respectively.
“The modern KISS electric double-decker multiple-unit trains are to be used in Lower Saxony for the first time,” said Michael Daum, director of Stadler Pankow GmbH.
“We are pleased to be able to produce more FLIRT and KISS trains for Alpha Trains and WestfalenBahn, and this order extends our previous commitment to modern, environmentally friendly public transport.”
WestfalenBahn won two European tenders in 2012 and secured a 15-year transport contract from the Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LNVG) – Lower Saxony transport authority – and its partners.
Rainer Blüm, managing director of WestfalenBahn, said: “The new multiple-unit trains replace the current red double-decker trains with locomotives and will offer our customers more space, comfort and safety.”
The 15 single-decker four-carriage FLIRT electric railcars have been designed specially for the Emsland line (RE 15) from Münster to Emden via Rheine, Lingen and Leer.
The 13 double-decker six-carriage KISS railcars are designed for the Mittelland lines RE 60 (Rheine–Osnabrück–Minden–Hannover–Braunschweig) and RE 70 (Bielefeld–Herford–Minden–Hannover–Braunschweig).
