SLOVENIAN Railways’ (SŽ) has signed a contract with Stadler to purchase 20 new passenger trains worth €148.3m to operate on non-electrified lines in Slovenia as well as cross-border services to Croatia and Austria.
The DMUs can be upgraded to also operate under 3kV dc electrification in future. Delivery will begin in 2025 at a rate of two trains per month.
The contract was signed on June 14 by SŽ director of passenger transport, Ms Darja Kocjan, and Stadler sales director for Central and Eastern Europe, Mr Željko Davidović.
The signing was witnessed by Slovenia’s prime minister, Dr Robert Golob, the minister of infrastructure, Ms Alenka Bratušek, SŽ director general, Mr Dušan Mes, SŽ assistant director general, Mr Miha Butara, SŽ board member, Mr Tomaž Kraškovic, Stadler chairman, Mr Peter Spuhler, and Stadler Poland CEO, Mr Tomasz Preis.
The new trains will feature air-conditioning, a passenger information system, Wi-Fi and two toilets, including one adapted for passengers with reduced mobility. Each train will have 171 seats, including 12 in first class, that will all be equipped with power sockets, while there will be capacity for 143 standing passengers. The DMUs will also be equipped with ETCS and will have a maximum speed of 140km/h.
The new fleet will contribute to SŽ’s goal to reduce its energy consumption and carbon footprint, which dropped from 33g of CO2 equivalent per passenger-km in 2021 to 25g in 2022.
“With modern rolling stock, we will provide our passengers with better quality and more friendly public transport,” Mes says. “At the same time, we are making a significant contribution to the environmental sustainability of the transport sector with these investments.”
Under the first phase of its fleet renewal plans, SŽ purchased 52 new trains from Stadler, with 21 single-deck Flirt EMUs, 10 double-deck Kiss EMUs and 21 single-deck Flirt DMUs now in operation.
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