Alstom signs first contract to provide 11 battery-electric regional trains for Germany

Credit: Alstom Design and Styling

Alstom has announced that it has signed its first contract for battery-electric regional trains in Germany, set to enter service in 2023. The rail company will manufacture, deliver and maintain 11 Coradia Continental battery-electric trains for regional traffic on the Leipzig-Chemnitz route until 2032. 

The contract, worth €100 million, will see Alstom responsible for providing the units on behalf of the two authorities responsible for this line – Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen (VMS), with the support of Zweckverband für den Nahverkehrsraum Leipzig (ZVNL).

Senior Vice President of Alstom Europe, Gian Luca Erbacci, 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.”

The contract is not the first between Alstom and VMS – in 2014, the two parties signed a contract for the delivery of 29 Coradia Continental electric regional trains (EMU). However, in order to bridge the 80 kilometres of non-electrified line between the cities of Chemnitz and Leipzig, the authority has now requested a battery-electric version (BEMU). 

The three-car Coradia Continental BEMU trains are set to be 56m long, equipped with 150 seats and can be operated under catenary, as well as on non-electrified sections, with a top speed of 160km/h in battery mode.

The BEMU units are designed similarly to those already in service on the Dresden, Riesa and Zwickau routes, but will have high-performance batteries on the roof. Based on the standard Coradia Continental, the train builds on Alstom’s long experience in battery traction, gained with the Coradia iLint, Citadis trams and the Prima H3 locomotive.