National Express, Britain, is the first to declare that it has been shortlisted for the contract which is due to be awarded a year from now. The concession will start in December 2017.
The concession covers the clockwise and anti-clockwise lines S41 and S42, plus lines S46 Berlin Main Station - Westend - Königs Wusterhausen, S47 Spindlersfeld - Südkreuz, and S8 Hohen Neuendorf - Zeuthen.
The winner of the concession will have to procure sufficient emus to operate around 9.4 million train-km per year. The existing fleet consists of 74 four-car and 28 two-car trains plus additional sets to cover maintenance.
The Berlin Senate has been very unhappy with the poor performance of the S-Bahn following DB's decision to cut back maintenance facilities in Berlin which led to a chronic shortage of trains compounded by signalling problems.
