The first trains of a delayed order for 59 Twindexx Express IR 200 double-deck units from Bombardier will go into service in 2017, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has announced.
SBB and Bombardier have reached an agreement on the late delivery of the new eight-car trains. The compensation deal, which includes three free trains and spare parts, is subject to the first test trains being passed by SBB in early 2015.
SBB placed a CHF 1.9 billion order for a new fleet of long-distance trains with Bombardier in 2010, which included an option for 100 more sets. It was described at the biggest rolling stock order in SBB’s history.
In February, SBB confirmed that the delivery would be delayed until 2016 – two years later than originally planned. SBB and Bombardier now expect to commission the first train in 2017 and deliver all 62 by 2020.
In a statement, SBB said the delay had in part been caused by ‘problems in the design of the car body’.
The first train will leave Bombardier’s Hennigsdorf factory next month, closely followed by the second, which is being assembled in Villeneuve, in February 2015.
