Hamburger Hochbahn launched the tender for the acquisition of new DT6 trainsets expected to be delivered in 2027 when testing process begins on the first section of the U5 line.
The 6th generation of vehicles will gradually replace the existing DT4 fleet operating since 1988 and are also required for the U5 automatic operation testing.
“We are procuring the first vehicles for fully automated operation on U5. These are based on the DT5 fleet but will set new design of the interior. The concept was developed with customers and offers space for different needs,” Henrik Falk, the CEO of Hochbahn said.
Sustainability plays an important role in the tender. In addition to economic efficiency and technical performance, this concept is also included in the evaluation of the offers. These include the criteria of weight, energy requirements and supply chains. If the contract is awarded, the contractual partner will be required to create transparency on the sustainability issues on an annual basis. The recycling rate for the vehicles should be at least 94 percent.
The tender also covers the supply and installation of the CBTC required for operation on the new U5 line.
Hochbahn will firmly order 48 DT6 vehicles and is planning the procurement of up to 250 DT6-F trains comprising 190 trainsets to replace the DT4 vehicles and 60 units for the planned metro extensions. In long term, the company intends to acquire 120 DT6-A trains, 14 of which for the commissioning of the first section on the U5 between Bramfeld and City Nord.
Due to the simultaneous need for the existing network and the future U5, Hamburger Hochbahn decided to acquire two variants of metro trains.The DT6 vehicles for the existing network (DT6-F) have a driver’s compartment at each end while theDT6-A trains for the U5 line will be designed for fully automatic operation.The procedure with the two variants of a vehicle type offers the advantage that a relatively even number of vehicles can be retrieved per year.The exact distribution of the procurement of DT6-F and DT6-A variants adapts to the actual vehicle requirements.
The new four-car vehicles will be 40-metre long and fully accessible.The DT6 trainsets will be designed to also run in an 80- or 120-metre-long format allowing a capacity of up to 850 passengers.Since there are no driver’s cabs in the DT6-A driverless trains, there are even almost 900 passenger seats per 120-metre train.
The doors, which are made entirely of glass and make the vehicle appear even more transparent, will be significantly more distinctive.
The 2.7m wide trains will have a four-group seating area, but the seats will be also arranged lengthways. The passenger compartment is divided into four different zones: close to the doors there are multi-purpose areas for high space requirements. A lounge near the door and seats near the door are for the passenger with a shorter stay. The use of the seating groups is particularly useful on longer journeys. The division was designed in an upstream design development and is intended to increase passenger comfort.
They will be equipped with a new lighting system and new passenger information system that will further improve customer communication.
Hochbahn owns a metro fleet of 289 trains comprising 126 DT4 and 163 DT5 vehicles. In addition, there is an operating reserve of 10 DT3 vehicles and various historic vehicles.
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