The 120-seat two-car trains, which can operate with catenary or under battery power, are scheduled to operate in Network 8 of the Ortenau regional system.

The trains will be built at Siemens’ factory in Krefeld, Germany, and are due to be delivered by December 2023.

KfW IPEX Bank is providing €77m in financing, with a term of 28 years, to purchase the trains for Baden-Württemberg public transport authority (NVBW).

The Mireo Plus B has a range of around 80km in battery mode in real operating conditions. The batteries can be charged via the catenary while operating along electrified sections through regenerative braking. The lithium-ion batteries are mounted underfloor in two battery compartments.

Network 8 Ortenau serves an annual volume of around two million train-km across the following routes:

  • Offenburg  - Freudenstadt/Hornberg
  • Offenburg - Bad Griesbach
  • Offenburg - Achern
  • Achern - Ottenhöfen, and
  • Biberach (Baden) - Oberharmersbach-Riersbach.

Financing

SFBW is responsible for the procurement and financing of trains under the ‘Network Ortenau model,’ which calls for the manufacturer to produce and deliver the trains, while ensuring they are permanently available for service.

SFBW owns the trains and makes them available to the operator for the duration of the contract, which is yet to be awarded.

“Our battery-powered train Mireo Plus B makes climate-friendly, locally emission-free passenger transport possible, thus offering a sustainable alternative to the use of diesel-powered trains on non-electrified rail routes,” says Siemens Mobility CEO, Ms Sabrina Soussan. “We will guarantee the availability of the fleet with our maintenance of the trains over their entire lifecycle.”

“In the interest of sustainability, we’ve deliberately opted for a ‘lifecycle model’,” says Baden-Württemberg minister for transport, Mr Winfried Hermann. “Siemens is also responsible for energy consumption and energy costs over the entire contract period of 29.5 years. In this respect, we are entering new territory regarding public transport tenders in the state of Baden-Württemberg.”

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