Train manufacturer Stadler is appealing against a decision by Switzerland’s federal railway SBB to award a contract for 116 double-decker trains to a different company.
Stadler reports that it undertook an in-depth analysis, from which it concluded that it wants the independent Federal Administrative Court to review the decision. The company lodged its appeal yesterday (27 November 2025).
In its bid for the contract, Stadler offered one of its existing KISS double-decker trains. The SBB network has been operating these trains on its network since 2012. Stadler also points out that it has sold over 700 of these double-decker trains to operators in 14 countries, including supplying KISS trains to Hungary and recently securing an order to provide trains to operate in Austria.
There was a price difference of 0.6 per cent between the winning bid and Stadler’s losing bid.
Stadler admits that it does not understand the points of the evaluation and the resulting award decision, but claims that its bid was “undervalued compared to a train that only exists on paper”. Evaluated criteria included operating costs, quality, maintenance, sustainability and service contracts.
The company has raised questions about the low marks awarded to its bid for sustainability, given that it claims to be the only bidder that would produce the train entirely in Switzerland.
Stadler has its headquarters in Bussnang in eastern Switzerland, and has around 6,000 employees in the country, as well as 3,000 in Germany.
Meanwhile, Stadler is on the other side of a separate legal case, after Škoda Transtech submitted a formal complaint to the Finnish Market Court about the awarding of a contract to Stadler.
“After thorough examination of the award decision, we still cannot understand the evaluation. For this reason, we have decided to lodge an appeal with the Federal Administrative Court, as provided for in the award procedure. The Federal Administrative Court, as an independent judicial authority, should review the award decision for its correctness.”
Peter Spuhler, Chairof the Board of Directors of Stadler
Responses
Seems in the merry-go-round of life .. for Stadler some you win, some you loose! Need to submit a better priced bid next time, which may impact on profit. The alternative of course being “decline to bid”