27.08.09
Stadler is on schedule: First S-Bahn carriage topped out
Twelve months ago, Stadler Rail signed a contract with the SBB for 50 DOSTO double-decker rail cars with a value of approx. CHF 1 billion. Today, after only one year, Stadler Rail celebrates the topping-out ceremony for the first car body. The demanding time schedule has been able to be met without any problem. Within this period, the Altenrhein factory has been expanded into the double–decker competence centre at a cost of CHF 30 million. In parallel, Stadler Rail is building the new bogie competence centre in Winterthur at a cost of CHF 28 million, with completion by the end of the year. Stadler Rail will ceremoniously handed over the first DOSTO to the SBB on the 4th June 2010.
First double-decker car body completed on schedule
Today, in Altenrhein, and in the presence of its customer the SBB, the ZVV and various representatives of the cantons of St. Gallen, Thurgau, Zurich and Bern, as well as local authorities and other guests, Stadler Rail was able to top out the first DOSTO aluminium car body for the Zurich S-Bahn, i.e. the car roof was placed on the body. Up to today, Stadler Rail has thereby complied with the ambitious time schedule of the SBB without any problems, and the state-of-the-art aluminium production plant has passed its baptism of fire.
In record time, the Altenrhein factory has been converted and expanded into the most modern aluminium production plant in Europe. The assemblies for the first car body were mechanically machined on a 40m-long processing centre and were then welded together in the car body hall. As a result of this investment, the production capacity has been doubled to almost 800,000 hours per year.
Stadler Rail was also successful with the new DOSTO concept in Austria at the end of June 2009. An order for seven six-part DOSTO for the Vienna – Salzburg was received. Stadler also sees positive chances for success in the German market.
Important milestone for Stadler Rail
„This order is an important milestone for the company development of Stadler Rail. It signifies the entry into the strategically important market segment of the double-decker rail car“, explained Peter Spuhler, Group CEO and owner of Stadler Rail, and added: „We are proud that we have had the opportunity to manufacture the DOSTO for the S-Bahn Zurich with 80% added value from Switzerland. One third of the purchasing volume of Stadler Rail will be provided by efficient SME operations in the region of Eastern Switzerland.“
The St. Gallen District President Josef Keller added the following „I am very pleased that Stadler Rail believes in the future of the workplace Switzerland, is investing in the Canton of St. Gallen, and has expanded Altenrhein into the new double-decker competence centre. I am particularly pleased about the creation of 300 additional workplaces, particularly against the background of the current recession.“
Vincent Ducrot, Head of Passenger Transport at the SBB ad interim, is also very satisfied, and added the following „Thanks to the new DOSTO railcars, the SBB can continue renewing its fleet, and can ensure that its passengers are in good hands and arrive safely at their destinations.“ Franz Kagerbauer, Director of the ZVV, proudly added „With the new DOSTO railcars, the Zurich S-Bahn will have a modern and comfortable vehicle. Both ourselves and our customers will be very happy.“
The Stadler Rail Group, the system provider for customised solutions in rail vehicle manufacture, has locations in Switzerland (Altenrhein, Bussnang and Winterthur), in Germany (Berlin-Pankow and Velten), in Poland (Siedlce), in Hungary (Budapest, Pusztascabolcz and Szolnok), as well as in Algeria (Algiers). More than 2,400 people are employed group-wide. The best-known vehicle families of the Stadler Rail Group are the GTW articulated railcar (489 trains sold), the RS1 Regio Shuttle (402 trains sold), the FLIRT (515 trains sold) and the DOSTO double-decker S-Bahn train (57 trains sold) in the complete train sector, and the Variobahn (264 vehicles sold) and the newly developed Tango (90 vehicles sold) in the streetcar sector. In addition, Stadler manufactures passenger coaches and diesel-electric locomotives, and is the leading manufacturer of rack railway vehicles worldwide.
If you have any further questions, please contact:
Stadler Rail Group
Tim Büchele, Media Spokesman
Telephone: ++41 (0) 71 / 626 31 57
Mobile: ++41 (0) 79 / 765 49 31
tim.buechele@stadlerrail.ch