Although the award of the contract needs to be approved by the Authority of Industrial Cooperation in Israel’s Ministry Economy and Industry, delivery of the trains is expected to start in 2020, and the will continue for five years.
The trains will be based on the Siemens Desiro HC EMU which it is buiilding for Rhine-Rhur Express (RXX). Each IR train will have a single-deck driving trailer at each end and either two or four intermediate double-deck cars. A four-car train will seat around 750 passengers while a six-car set will have seats for around 1000 passengers.
The contract is divided into three parts. The cost of the trains is valued at $US 910m. Siemens will build a new maintenance centre at a cost of $US 65.3m and maintain the first 24 trains at a cost of $US 113.6m. IR has not yet decided whether Siemens or another company will maintain the remaining 36 EMUs.
