Stadler to supply 64 Flirt trains to Hanover S-Bahn
Stadler will design, build and deliver 64 three-car electric multiple units of the Flirt type for French-based public transport operator Transdev. All the trains will enter service on the 12 routes of Hanover S-Bahn by the end of 2021.
The deal worth 320 million Euros was made possible due to Transdev’s win of a Europe-wide public tender to operate Hanover S-Bahn, the suburban railway in the German city. The French-based company will start its operations in the capital of Lower Saxony at the end of 2021. Transdev will operate Hanover S-Bahn via its subsidiary Nordwestbahn, servicing the suburban and regional railway lines in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. The new operator of Hanover S-Bahn will keep in service 13 four-car DB Regio class 425 trains running in Hanover now.
“Winning this order is an outstanding success for our Group and the largest rail order in our history. We will do everything in our power to complete this project successfully. Procuring the new Flirt vehicles is part of this – they will clearly improve the quality of the suburban railway for the customers,” noted spokesman of Transdev Germany Tobias Heinemann.
Flirt’s features
The three-car electric multiple units (EMUs), ordered for Hanover S-Bahn, will be 68 meters long and will have eight passenger doors on each side. Every train will be capable to carry 180 passengers on seats and 397 passengers in total. The cars of the trains will have video-monitoring systems. The EMUs can achieve a maximum speed of 160 kilometres per hour.
The Flirts will be equipped with a universal toilet for the disabled, all the trains are barrier-free and continuously stepless. The EMUs will have large multi-purpose areas for transportation of up to twelve bicycles, bulky luggage, and pushchairs. Moreover, the trains will have sockets for charging e-bikes and spaces for wheelchairs as well as the modern passenger information system with monitors in each entrance area and the onboard WiFi.
Transdev now operates a fleet of 100 Flirt trains of varying configurations in Germany. The new order is a significant event for Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler. “We are very pleased to have received the order in the Lower Saxony region and that we can consolidate our pleasant and constructive cooperation with Transdev on the Hanover suburban railway,” CEO of Stadler Thomas Ahlburg said.
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