Under the terms of the deal signed on December 18, which is the result of almost a year of negotiations, AnsaldoBreda must deliver all remaining IC4s by September 2013 and IC2s by October 2013. DSB will be allowed to cancel orders for any sets which are not delivered before the deadline. DSB says it has yet to accept 22 IC4s and 14 IC2s. According to AnsaldoBreda, 70 trains of the 83 trains on order have been delivered to Denmark but only 20 are in service.

AnsaldoBreda has also agreed to provide DSB with DKr 550m ($US 98m) in compensation, additional spare parts for the fleet including bogies, and an upgrade of the train control and management system (TCMS). The agreement allows DSB to take responsibility for further development of the TCMS to ensure the system operates to the required standard. AnsaldoBreda says it will continue to provide specialist support to DSB for the commissioning of the trains.

“The agreement clarifies a number of significant uncertainties and issues, but it does not change the fact that IC4 delivery has been an unfortunate situation for all parties,” says Mr Frank Olesen, head of the IC4 programme for DSB. “It has been suggested that DSB should cancel the IC4 contract. Many legal issues would have to be resolved to allow that to happen and cancellation could lead to unforeseen long-term consequences. This new agreement recognises our compensation claim and gives us an unambiguous option to cancel the remaining deliveries if there is further delay.”

In a statement issued on December 20, AnsaldoBreda said the agreement will allow the remaining trains to be commissioned “in a short time” and the final 13 trains will be delivered by the middle of next year.