22.11.11
The 700th FLIRT will run in South Tyrol
Stadler Rail has received an order for eight 6-carriage FLIRTs (Fast Light Innovative Regional Trains) from Südtiroler Transportstrukturen AG (STA). In addition, STA is ordering eight intermediate cars to increase the capacity of the FLIRTs already in service. In total, the order is worth around EUR 75 million. With this order, the number of FLIRTs sold exceeds the 700 threshold. Stadler has now sold 115 trains in Italy.
The transport department of the South Tyrol provincial administration purchased eight FLIRTs in 2008 via STA, as well as 12 diesel-powered articulated multiple-unit trains (GTWs) for the Vinschgerbahn, which entered service in 2005. The current order is an option from the original international tender made at the time. The trains are being purchased as part of the further modernisation of regional transport in South Tyrol. Peter Jenelten, Executive Vice President Marketing & Sales of Stadler Rail Group, is delighted, “We are proud to be able to deliver more FLIRTs to South Tyrol. This is also proof of the great success of the trains we delivered previously to Pustertal and Vinschgau.”
Comfortable and spacious
The new trains for South Tyrol are essentially the same as those delivered in 2008. They are similar to those for TILO, which SBB bought for the regional service Ticino–Italy, i.e. the trains are equipped as dual-voltage multiple-unit trains (3 kV DC for Italy, 15 kV AC for Austria), and are thus able to provide connections across national borders. Based on new findings, the interior will be further improved to achieve increased comfort for passengers. A new type of more comfortable seating will be installed, for example. The trains seat 260 people, have generously proportioned multifunctional compartments in the entry zones, two accessible toilets and air conditioning – and it is possible to walk from one end of the train to the other without meeting any steps. The top speed of these modern trains is 160 km/h.
All eight compositions will be delivered in the second half of 2013. At the same time, the four-carriage FLIRTs delivered in 2008 will be converted into six-carriage trains using the new intermediate cars.
The FLIRT success story: in Italy and throughout Europe
With this order, Stadler will exceed the threshold of 100 multiple-unit trains sold in Italy (not including the TILO fleet belonging to SBB). A total of nine customers have ordered 116 trains from Stadler in the last few years. Around half of these are FLIRTs. The trains are in service in different regions throughout the entire country, from Calabria or Apulia in the south to Lombardy or South Tyrol in the North. Peter Spuhler, CEO and owner of Stadler Rail Group, is delighted by this latest success, “I am very proud that soon more than 100 of our trains will be in service in Italy. This goes to show that our innovative and reliable multiple-unit trains are very popular with the customers and passengers.”
Stadler has now sold 707 FLIRTs. The first FLIRT was delivered in 2004, and in the meantime the FLIRT has been successfully sold in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Norway, Italy, Poland, Algeria, Finland, Hungary, Belarus, Estonia and the Czech Republic.
Stadler Rail Group
Stadler Rail Group, system supplier of customer-specific solutions for rail vehicle construction, has locations in Switzerland (Altenrhein, Bussnang, Winterthur and Biel), in Germany (Berlin-Pankow, Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, Berlin-Reinickendorf and Velten), in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Italy, Algeria and in the USA. The Group has a workforce of about 4,000 people. The best-known vehicle series from Stadler Rail Group are the articulated multiple-unit train GTW (553 trains sold), the Regio-Shuttle RS1 (497 trains sold), the FLIRT (706 trains sold) and the double-decker multiple-unit train KISS (133 trains sold) in the railway segment, and the Variobahn (290 vehicles sold) and the Tango (101 vehicles sold) in the tram segment. Furthermore, Stadler Rail manufactures metre-gauge trains, passenger carriages and locomotives and is the world’s leading manufacturer of rack-and-pinion rail vehicles.
