16.02.10
FLIRT the first EMU in Poland to run 160 kph
FLIRTs as the first electric multiple units in Poland have been granted the permanent homologation to run at a speed of 160 kph
Fourteen FLIRT trains produced and delivered by Stadler for the Mazovia and Silesia provinces have been granted the permanent Rail Transport Authority’s (Urząd Transportu Kolejowego) homologation to run at a speed of 160 kph. The FLIRT train is the first Polish EMU, which got this authorisation. The corresponding temporary homologation for the FLIRT trains was already issued by the Rail Transport Authority in May 2008. Stadler’s vehicles are modern, safe and comfortable, and hence much appreciated by passengers in Poland. Additionally, they can be run in multiple traction and have very favourable life cycle costs, as their energy consumption, maintenance costs and their technical service expenditure are very low. Such costs need to be evaluated over the train's whole life span of approximately 30 years, and are even more significant than the initial purchase price of the trains.
“We are very proud that the FLIRT trains produced by Stadler for the Mazovia and Silesia provinces as the first EMUs in Poland received the permanent Rail Transport Authority’s homologation to run at a speed of 160 kph and thus fully fulfil the specific requirements of the Polish railway law. Nowadays billions of Polish zlotys are being spent on the modernisation of railroads in Poland to meet the requirements of high-speed lines. These investments, but only combined with the purchase of fast trains, make sense for taxpayers and passengers,” said Stanisław Skalski, Sales Manager of Stadler Rail Group and Member of the Management Board of Stadler Polska.
The FLIRT trains have also been homologated to be operated in multiple traction in Poland. So far Stadler has sold over 540 FLIRT trains for several customers from Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Finland, Norway, Poland, France, Austria and Algeria, and the vehicles are very much appreciated by the company’s customers and loved by passengers.
On 12 February 2010 Hungarian passenger transport operator MÁV-START Zrt. set into operation the last Stadler FLIRT out of the altogether 60 ordered trains. Stadler Rail Group delivered the last vehicle more than two months before the original deadline agreed in the contract, therefore the delivery part of the MÁV-Stadler contract ended earlier than expected.
About Stadler Polska
In June 2006, Stadler Bussnang AG received its first order from Poland for the delivery of fourteen FLIRT trains for the Mazovia and Silesia provinces (ten for Mazovia and four for Silesia) and the maintenance of the vehicles for a period of three years. After having received the order from the provinces of Mazovia and Silesia, the Stadler crew immediately started planning the assembly plant in Siedlce. The company rented and modernised a facility in Siedlce owned by the Polish railway company PKP. As a result, all of the fleet ordered by Stadler’s Polish clients was produced in Siedlce. The official opening of Stadler’s rail vehicle assembly plant in Siedlce took place on
5 September 2007. As there were no further orders from the Polish market, Stadler started producing GTW for the Dutch market. The roll-out of the first two trains took place with the customer Arriva in September 2009. Stadler Rail Group has invested so far more than EUR 4 million (PLN 16.77 million) in its rail vehicle assembly plant in Siedlce.
About Stadler Rail Group
Stadler Rail Group, a system supplier of customer-specific solutions for rail vehicle construction, incorporates Stadler Altenrhein AG, Stadler Bussnang AG, and Stadler Winterthur AG in Switzerland in addition to the German locations Stadler Pankow GmbH in Berlin and Velten, and plants in Pusztaszabolcs, Budapest and Szolnok in Hungary, Siedlce in Poland and Alger in Algeria. The Group employs a workforce of over 3,000 around the world. The best-known vehicle series from the Stadler Rail Group are the globally successful GTW articulated railcar (501 trains sold), the Regio Shuttle RS1 (404 trains sold), the Fast, Light, Innovative, Regional Turbo-train FLIRT (547 trains sold) and the new double-decker electric multiple unit called DOSTO (73 trains sold). Stadler has also successfully established itself in the streetcar and tram market with the product series Variobahn (264 vehicles sold) and the newly developed Tango (142 vehicles sold). Furthermore, Stadler manufactures passenger carriages and two-axle locomotives, and is also a world leading manufacturer of rack rail vehicles.
For further information, please contact:
Questia Sp. z o.o.
Communications Management Consultants
Urszula Matej-Bil, Hanna Dymek-Jara
Phone: +48 22 623 07 00
E-mail: umatej@questiapr.pl, hdymek@questiapr.pl
www.questiapr.pl
