DANISH State Railways (DSB) has published a tender notice in the Official Journal of the European Union for the supply and maintenance for 30 years of 226 automated trains for operation at Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4) on the Copenhagen S-Bane network.
The contract will include an option for up to 100 additional trains and is expected to be worth €3.5bn. The contract will also include options for the supplier to install driver’s cabs in the trains, which will be expected to operate at 120-160km/h.
DSB adds that it will provide the onboard CBTC equipment, which would be installed by the supplier of the new fleet . The delivery time and delivery rate of the new trains are subject to change during the tender phase, according to DSB, which says in the notice that the rollout of other projects associated with the automation of the S-Bane network as well as political decisions influencing future extensions may impact the expected time and rate of delivery.
The maintenance element of the contract includes two optional five-year extensions with the chosen supplier expected to work with existing DSB maintenance personnel.
The new fleet forms part of the Future S-Network Programme. DSB was granted government approval to proceed with procurement in May. At that time, it expected to select a supplier by the start of 2025, with testing of the first new trains due to start in 2028 for the fleet to enter service between 2029 and 2037.
The first section of the S-Bane to operate under ATO from 2029 will be Line F between Ny Ellebjerg and Hellerup.
Infrastructure manager Banedanmark completed the installation of CBTC on the 173km S-Bane network with the commissioning of the new signalling system on the final three routes to Frederikssund, Høje Taastrup and Køge in September 2022. The network is currently operated with a fleet of 104 eight-car class SA EMUs and 31 four-car class SE trains.
DSB confirmed its intention to upgrade the network to GoA4 in 2017, appointing a joint venture of Cowi, Parsons, Systra and Implement Consulting for an eight-year multidisciplinary framework contract to support implementation of the project in January 2021. Ricardo Certification was selected as the assessment body for the project in March 2022.
Qualifying suppliers for the new train contract must have delivered a fleet of at least 20 standard-gauge electric trains for metro, commuter or regional services for operation at GoA4. The supplier must also have experience of installing advanced signalling equipment such as for ETCS and CBTC on its rolling stock. DSB points out that the trains might be owned and/or operated by another operator in the future.
The deadline for bidders to submit tenders or requests to participate is 13.00 CET on August 18.
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