The contract will be financed by Austrian Train Finance which will lease the trains to Westbahn, at what Stadler describes as “attractive market conditions.” Austrian Train Finance is owned by Mr Peter Spuhler’s PCS Holding. Spuhler, who is chairman of Stadler, attributes the successful bid to “our attractive customer-specific overall package” which includes finance and maintenance.
The full-service contract covers preventive and corrective maintenance as well as general inspections and revisions.
The six-car trains will replace Westbahn’s existing fleet of 17 Stadler double-deck EMUs on the Vienna - Salzburg route following Westbahn’s decision to sell the fleet to German Rail (DB).
Stadler will upgrade the fleet’s 160km/h trains for 200km/h operation and gain approval for all 17 trains to operate in Germany. The first batch of Westbahn trains will be delivered to DB in December 2019, with the remainder following once the new trains have been supplied in 2021.
The new 200km/h trains are identical in construction to the existing Westbahn fleet which entered service in 2017. The 150m-long trains are 2.8m wide and 4.59m high and have 526 seats. A refreshment vending machine is provided in each of the four intermediate coaches. The air-conditioned trains have Wi-Fi, separate male and female toilets, and a toilet for disabled passengers.
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