Eisenbahn-CERT (EBC) released Škoda Transportation the TSI certificate for both Emil Zátopek 109E3 locomotives and modern bilevel, high-speed MNE (Munich – Nuremberg Express) trains for Germany.
Škoda Transportation has manufactured six modern, high-capacity bilevel trains, including six locomotives for Deutsche Bahn Regio. These push-pull trains are designed for operation on the most important Bavarian railways Nuremberg – Ingolstadt – Munich. The trains can cover the distance between Munich and Nuremberg in an hour and 45 minutes, so they will be only 30 minutes slower than the ICE high-speed trains. The trains consist of a control car, end wagon, four wagons and the Škoda Emil Zátopek 109E3 locomotive. They are designed for a maximum speed of 200 km/h and will be operated at a maximum speed of 190 km/h.
“By issuing this certificate, we celebrate the extraordinary success of the homologation process, which we expect to be finalized in the beginning of 2019 when the train should be finally approved. Completing this technically and financially challenging project is priority of the new board of the company under the new owner – investment and financial group PPF – and will in the future support our business plans on the European market,” Petr Brzezina, CEO of Škoda Transportation said.
The train has 676 seats divided into first and second class, and it also offers 37 places for bicycles and a few places for people with reduced mobility, including places for people accompanying them.
The units are equipped with a special pressure-tight cabin that allows it to pass other trains in tunnels at high speeds, contributing to comfortable and undisturbed travel.
In 2013, DB Regio awarded Škoda Transportation a EUR 110 million contract for the supply of six double-deck push-pull trainsets. The supply of the trains has been postponed by more than two years because of the challenging development of pressure-tight wagons, as well as tests of whole trains.
The trains will start replacing the old InterCity units next year in spring. The full launch of the entire fleet of new trains is expected in June 2019.
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