The three-axle 100km/h H3 is powered by a 350kW stage IIIB-compliant diesel generator and batteries, and is expected to spend between 50 and 75% of its operational time in battery mode.

The locomotives will be assembled at Alstom's plant in Stendal, Germany, and both units will be delivered in the second half of this year. The Metrans contract takes the total number of H3s on order or in service to 14.

The first of two H3s ordered by Audi entered service at the company's automotive plant at Ingolstadt in Bavaria last October, while Volkswagen has purchased three units for shunting at its Wolfsburg factory. German Rail (DB) recently began driver training in preparation for the introduction of its fleet of five H3s, which will undergo trials at yards in Würzburg and Nuremberg.