Alstom has announced that it will be manufacturing eleven Coradia Continental battery-electric trains for the Leipzig-Chemnitz route.
The manufacturer will deliver and maintain the trains until 2032 on behalf of VMS (Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen) and with the support of ZVNL (Zweckverband für den Nahverkehrsraum Leipzig).
The contract is worth around £84m (€100 million).
In 2014, Alstom signed a contract with VMS for the delivery of 29 Coradia Continental electric regional trains. However, in order to cover the 80km of the unelectrified line between Chemnitz and Leipzig, the authority requested a battery-electric version of the train.
The new trains will enter service in 2023. They will be built at Alstom's German site of Salzgitter, in Lower Saxony.
The Coradia Continental BEMU trains will be similar to those already in service on the Dresden, Riesa and Zwickau routes, however, will have a high-performance battery on the roof.
The Coradia Continental BEMU has a range of up to 120 kilometres.
What do you think of these new battery-electric trains by Alstom? Let us know in the comments below.
What did the officials say?
Gian Luca Erbacci, Senior Vice President of Alstom Europe, said:
“We are immensely proud to be providing the responsible authorities with a sustainable and perfectly-suited solution. Today, Alstom stands apart in being able to offer any form of emission-free traction currently on the market built into a proven solution. As a responsible company, Alstom has an intense focus on sustainable mobility, offering the best-fitting solutions that make it not only possible, but also cost-effective and attractive”
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We had battery-electric multiple units on the Deeside Line in Aberdeenshire in the 60s.
Any idea which company is making the batteries? I know Alstom don’t have this kind of tech in house currently (cos I work for them)
Alstom could build and manufacture Battery-Diesel multiple unit (BDMU) trains that could be ideal to operate on smaller branch lines in the Southwest (including Devon and Cornwall) and branch lines in the North of England, most parts of Wales, Scotland and Northeast England. And even Electric-Battery multiple unit (BEMU) trains to operate on branch lines in the Southeast and Thames Valley area. And on the Greenford branch line in West London if London Overground might operate a shuttle West Ealing-Greenford service with new BEMU trains.
About time we had something like this in the UK… Branch lines in the South West come to mind.