Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL), the rail operator in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, ordered from CAF 10 battery-powered trains as part of a contract signed last year. The EUR 170 million contract includes the provision of maintenance services for a period of 33 years.
The new trains are envisaged to be in operation over the course of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, forming part of the plans implemented by the German federal government intended to decarbonise rail transport. The 10 battery trains will run on the lines RB 68 (Münster Hbf – Sendenhorst) and RB 76 (Harsewinkel – Gütersloh Hbf – Verl), located in an area between cities such as Münster and Gütersloh. NWL commissions a railway network covering close to 2,000 km of track, on 58 different lines.
The modern, Civity BEMU set new standards in terms of sustainability and they can be recharged in stationary locations or on sections with an existing overhead line.
These trains will boast cutting edge rail technology as they are battery-powered trains which can also run on tracks with a catenary, as an alternative to the current diesel units.
The low-noise, climate-friendly trains will be used on two routes operated by the infrastructure operators Westfälische Landeseisenbahn (WLE) and Teutoburger Wald-Eisenbahn (TWE), which will be reactivated from the end of 2025 for local passenger transport between Münster and Sendenhorst as well as Harsewinkel and Verl. NWL will also initiate the award procedure for the future operation of the RB 68 and RB 76 lines.
The initial contract was awarded in June 2021, when the German transport authorities VRR (Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr) and NWL awarded CAF the contract to supply 63 battery-powered trains and the associated fleet maintenance services from 2025 to 2058.
The Civity BEMU units are to be supplied in two variants providing 120 of 160 seats depending on their size.
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