German operator DB Regio AG has placed a €325 million order with Alstom to supply 56 Coradia Lint regional trains.
The trains are slated to go into service in December 2013 on largely non-electrified lines in Greater Cologne and in the Eifel region, the Cologne diesel network. The Cologne/Bonn region is one of the biggest agglomerations in Germany.
Using these 56 new Coradia Lint trains, DB will achieve around 7.2 million train kilometres per year. Currently 65,000 commuters are using the DB trains daily.
The Coradia Lint trains made up of are two and three car diesel multiple units which will be designed and manufactured at Alstom’s site in Salzgitter.
To meet the requirements of regional and suburban operation, the trains will be characterised by high acceleration and high seating capacity.
The new vehicles with 180 seats (Lint 54) and 300 seats (Lint 81) can run up to a maximum speed of 140 km/h. Movable steps will facilitate the boarding and disembarkation of passengers, especially at different platform heights.
For mobility-impaired passengers, the trains will be equipped with two wheelchair spaces and one WC for disabled as well as a ramp for bridging the gap between the train and the platform edge.
After a tender process, the mass transit associations ‘Nahverkehr Rheinland’ (NVR) and ‘Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe’ (NWL) and the rail-bound passenger traffic association ‘Schienenpersonenverkehr Rheinlandpfalz-Nord’ (SPNV-Nord) commissioned DB Regio Rheinland GmbH to operate the passenger service on the mass transit lines and to expand the rail transportation service.
“With this investment we are continuing consequently the upgrading of our train fleet. We are empowering our company for a sustainable future. This will be to the benefit of the German railway system and mostly of our customers,” explained Dr. Rüdiger Grube, CEO of Deutsche Bahn.
