Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH awarded Siemens Mobility a EUR 300 million contract for the supply of 23 Desiro HC regional trains which will enter services on the regional lines RE1, RE8 and RB17 in the new Elbe-Spree network.
The delivery of the 21 six-car and 2 four-car trains is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2022. The start of operations is planned for the timetable change in December 2022. The trains will be built at the Siemens plant in Krefeld, Germany.
The six-car Desiro trainsets will be used on the regional express line RE1 (lot 1) connecting Magdeburg with Cottbus via Berlin and Frankfurt (Oder). During rush hours, trains will operate three times an hour between Brandenburg a. d. Havel and Frankfurt (Oder). The four-car Desiros are planned for service on the RE8 line connecting Wismar and Wittenberge with Baruth and Elsterwerda/Finsterwalde via Berlin, as well as on the RB17 line connecting Wismar and Ludwigslust. When operating at 20-minute intervals during rush hours, the trains will provide 637 seats. An option in the contract would increase their capacity to 800 seats.
The trains have generous space available for bicycles, strollers and wheelchairs and a multipurpose car with a barrier-free WC. Sliding steps enable barrier-free access at stations with 550 mm and 760 mm platform heights. Wider doors than in older trains speed and ease passenger boarding and exiting. The trains are equipped with free WLAN, a passenger safety system which provides live camera coverage of activities in the cars.
In January 2019, ODEG was awarded the contract to operate these lines following a Europe-wide tender by Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB). The contract includes the option to expand the capacity of the RE1 trains when the station platforms along this line are extended.
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