10.07.12
Stadler produces underground trains for Berlin for the first time
• Trial run for two pre-production IK-type underground vehicles to begin in spring 2015
• Option for series production of a further 34 vehicles by 2017
Berlin, 10th July 2012 – After its successful participation in a pan-European tender, Berlin-based rail vehicle manufacturer Stadler Pankow GmbH is producing two pre-production underground vehicles for Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) by 2015. If the trial run is successful, there is also an option for series production of up to 34 more vehicles, which could then be delivered to BVG from 2017 onwards.
“Stadler Pankow GmbH impressed us with an innovative concept and its references in the rail vehicle industry,” explains Hans-Christian Kaiser, Underground Director at Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe. “The use of four-carriage walk-through trains will introduce a new Berlin underground typology and be used as IK-type trains for small-profile vehicles. The aim is that they will replace the A3L71 series underground trains, which have been in service for more than 45 years, and modernise our vehicle fleet.”
“We are pleased to be able to evidence our decades of experience and our technical know-how in the underground sector. At the same time, this contract marks an entry into the rail vehicle market in the capital,” reports Michael Daum, Director of Stadler Pankow GmbH. “All services, including development, design and production of the vehicles, as well as assembly, paintwork and commissioning, are carried out at the company’s own production sites in Pankow, Reinickendorf and Hohenschönhausen.
What sets these new underground rail vehicles apart is their “ballooning”. This means that the underground carriages are slightly curved in the middle towards the outside, providing more space in the passenger compartment without exceeding important tunnel restrictions. The trains have an overall passenger capacity of around 330, including around 80 seats in longitudinal seating and 250 standing spaces. As successors of the HK type, they have enlarged multi-purpose areas, which will improve transport conditions for persons of restricted mobility, bulky luggage and pushchairs in the future. The specific design of the interior is currently at the consultation stage. Furthermore, the trains have energy-saving lighting and signalling systems as well as TFT monitors in the passenger compartment.
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, Austria, Algeria and in the USA. The Group has a workforce of about 4,500 people, of which over 2,800 are based in Switzerland. The best-known vehicle series from Stadler Rail Group are the articulated multiple-unit train GTW (562 trains sold), the Regio-Shuttle RS1 (497 trains sold), the FLIRT (758 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.
Stadler Pankow GmbH
Katrin Block, Sales and Marketing
Lessingstrasse 102
13158 Berlin
Telephone: +49 (0)30 9191 1501
Fax: +49 (0)30 9191 2150
www.stadlerrail.com