Stadler, a Swiss train maker, has announced that DB Regio AG, Frankfurt am Main based subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, has ordered some 44 FLIRT battery powered multiple units for use on the south west German Palatinate network.
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With this second supply contract, Stadler is expanding its market leadership in the field of alternative drive technologies in Germany. The two car vehicles are scheduled to enter passenger service successively from 2025.
With the new battery electric multiple units (BEMU), Stadler and DB Regio are bringing the technology of the future to the Palatinate on behalf of the commissioning authorities responsible for Rhineland Palatinate, Saarland and Baden Württemberg.
The two companies are not only representing the topic of “green mobility†at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference, but are also working together to tangibly shape environmentally friendly rail transport in Germany. From December 2025, CO2 emission free local trains will bring the railway lines in the southern and western Palatinate into a new mobility era.
When timetable changes are introduced in December 2025, the first of a total of 44 FLIRT battery powered multiple units will go into passenger service for regional transport in the south west German Palatinate network, thereby replacing the diesel vehicles currently in use by the end of 2026.
The two car vehicles are entirely electric and are particularly suitable for networks like the future Palatinate network where electrified sections alternate with track without overhead contact lines. On the electrified sections, the trains run under a catenary like traditional electric multiple units whilst charging their batteries at the same time. Once the catenary ends, the trains continue to run on battery power.
The operational range in battery mode is at least 80 kilometres – Stadler has already demonstrated 185 kilometres in battery mode during test journeys. After the completion of partial electrification, the longest section of line without electrification on the Palatinate network will be around 48 kilometres.
The 55 metre long trains have extra long cars to increase passenger capacity as ■