DANISH State Railways (DSB) has selected Alstom to supply a minimum of 100 single-deck five-car EMUs under a contract worth more than DKr 20bn ($US 3.2bn), which the operator says is the biggest deal in its history.
DSB says it expects to buy up to 150 of the trains, which will form the backbone of an entirely electric future fleet. The trains will be based on Alstom’s Coradia Stream platform, which are already in service in Italy. The 200km/h EMUs will have an acceleration rate of 1.2m/s2 and will feature eight motorised axles with the configuration similar to the ICNG trains that Alstom is delivering to Netherlands Railways (NS). Alstom will be responsible for maintaining the trains at two new dedicated workshops in Aarhus and Copenhagen, which DSB is in the process of constructing.
Delivery is expected to commence in 2024 and continue until 2029 at which point DSB’s diesel IC3 and IC4 trains will be removed from service. The first trains will enter passenger operation at the end of 2024.
“It is a historic day for DSB and for public transport in Denmark,” says Mr Peter Schütze, chairman of the board of DSB. “With the order of new electric trains, we can look forward to retiring the aging diesel-powered trains within a short number of years. In about 3.5 years, the first electric train sets will be delivered, and customers can look forward to a more efficient train operation with good comfort and higher punctuality.”
“A new, uniform and electric train fleet requires less maintenance than our current aging diesel trains,” says Mr Flemming Jensen, CEO of DSB. “In this way, today’s decision contributes both to more sustainability when it comes to the environment and climate, but also when it comes to DSB's finances, both for the benefit of customers and for our opportunities to offer them attractive tickets and travel. This is a strong starting point for more Danes to choose the train, and thus contribute to less pollution and fewer cars on the roads.”
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