Alstomhas been awarded a contract to supply 90 Adessia Stream commuter trains to local rail passenger transport authorities go.Rheinland and Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) for operation in the S-Bahn Cologne network in Germany. The contract also includes a long-term full-service agreement, meaning Alstom will assume full responsibility for the trains’ maintenance over a period of 34 years. It is the largest order for Alstom in Germany to date with an overall value of over €4 billion.
First S-Bahn order since Bombardier takeover
The order is apparently the first S-Bahn order since Alstom took over the former Bombardier Transportation in January 2021. While both companies have previously delivered the BR430 for the Stuttgart and Frankfurt/Main S-Bahn networks in a consortium, the combined expertise from France and the German Alstom sites in Salzgitter and Hennigsdorf is now likely to have contributed to the success of the project. The main responsibility for the development of the new trains lies with the Alstom site in Hennigsdorf, Germany. Production of the vehicles will take place at the Alstom site in Bautzen, Germany. Bautzen has already a track record in the product of trams and the S-Bahn Hamburg, BR490.
The Cologne project is the second major S-Bahn tender since the past two years or so. Just a year ago, Siemens won the vehicle tender for the Munich S-Bahn with an equally innovative vehicle concept.
Müslüm Yakisan, President of the DACH region at Alstom, says: “The new generation of vehicles for S-Bahn Cologne will have a decisive impact on public transport in the region and the cityscape for decades to come. Alstom will deliver comfortable and innovative trains with a high level of passenger experience and a strong focus on accessibility. We are particularly pleased that go.Rheinland and Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr have entrusted us not only with the delivery of the vehicles, but also with their maintenance over their entire lifecycle.”
“We have commissioned a completely newly developed vehicle that is tailored to the special needs and requirements in our region”
“We have commissioned a completely newly developed vehicle that is tailored to the special needs and requirements in our region. We are thus raising the S-Bahn fleet to a new level and are already looking forward to using the trains,” says go.Rheinland Managing Director Michael Vogel. Oliver Wittke, Spokesman of the Board at VRR, adds: “Both the exterior and interior layout of the new S-Bahn trains will help us to offer passengers higher quality and stable services.”
There are two versions of the train that will be delivered, depending on the part of the network where they will be operated. The shorter version has 9 cars and a length of nearly 150 metres while the longer version comprises of 11 cars and is almost 170 metres long. The train has been developed to meet the demands of both short-haul and long-distance passengers, leading to a mix of innovative flexible modules that provides the best possible combination of standing room and seats. The short and long versions of the train provide a total capacity of more than 1,150 and 1,340 passengers, respectively. Both versions have a maximum speed of 140 km/h.
Mix of different seating modules for maximum comfort
In addition to the Wi-Fi routers and power sockets that passengers now expect, the Adessia Stream trains come with a wide range of features that contribute to a pleasant travel experience for all passengers. Powerful air conditioning with environmentally friendly refrigerants for temperatures from -25 to 45°C guarantee a comfortable ride at all weather conditions, while specially treated windows ensure improved reception for personal mobile communication devices. Multi-purpose areas in each car of the train provide ample space for prams and bicycles. Gap-bridging devices at the first and last two entrance areas of the train ensure level access. Each end-car has a dedicated wheelchair area and is equipped with a toilet that is also suitable for passengers with reduced mobility. This is the first time in Germany that an S-Bahn train is equipped with toilets. The trains are equipped with a digital hearing system via Bluetooth for hearing impaired passengers.
The different seat modules include:
- Flex module (vis-à-vis seats that can be swivelled or retracted as required)
- Vis-à-vis seat module
- Multi-purpose module with folding seats
- Wheelchair module with folding seats and
- Comfort standing module
The entire vehicle architecture and, in particular, the design of the door areas must enable rapid passenger changes, which is a fundamental prerequisite for high operational stability.
First German high-floor S-Bahn with a WC
An absolute novelty of the new S-Bahn trains is a WC in each end carriage: no other S-Bahn with high-floor vehicles in Germany has WCs to date.
In addition to WLAN routers and power sockets, which passengers now take for granted, numerous innovations on the train are intended to significantly improve passenger comfort:
- Powerful air conditioning with environmentally friendly refrigerant for outside temperatures from -25 to 45°C
- Multi-purpose areas in each carriage of the train with ample space for pushchairs and bicycles
- Wheelchair areas in the end carriages
- Gap bridging for level boarding at the first and last two entrances of the train
- Digital hearing system via Bluetooth for the hearing impaired
- mobile radio-permeable outer panes
Maintenance of the new trains will be carried out in modern depots in the Cologne area. In addition to preventive and corrective maintenance measures, Alstom will also carry out predictive maintenance to increase vehicle availability while reducing maintenance costs and deliver significant savings over the entire lifecycle of the trains. Services processes will be continuously optimised throughout the three-decade long agreement. The basis for this is the concept of the trains themselves, designed for maintainability and optimisation over their entire service life. Thanks to these factors, Alstom has been able to present the most competitive offer in the market.
The owners of the new S-Bahn vehicles will be go.Rheinland and VRR or their own companies, which – as with the NRW-RRX model – will make the vehicles available to the railway undertakings (RUs). The aim is to gradually put all new vehicles on the rails by the 2033 timetable year. The S-Bahn network in the Rhineland comprises the S 6 line from Essen via Düsseldorf to Cologne-Worringen, the (future) S 10 line from Cologne-Nippes to Cologne-Dellbrück, the S 11 line from Düsseldorf Airport via Cologne to Bergisch Gladbach, the S 12 line from Horrem/Sindorf to Au (Sieg), the (future) S 13 line from Troisdorf to Bonn-Oberkassel, the S 19 line from Aachen/Düren to Au (Sieg), the (future) S 38 line (formerly RB 38) from Bedburg via Horrem to Köln Messe/Deutz and the S 68 line from Langenfeld via Düsseldorf to Wuppertal-Vohwinkel. For the 2032 timetable year, around 14.2 million train kilometres are planned for the S-Bahn line network. In the future, 20.1 million train kilometres per year are planned. However, the infrastructure still needs to be completed at various points in the Cologne railway junction.
VRR and go.Rheinland have been supported by TÜV Rheinland InterTraffic GmbH, Neomind GmbH and BUSE Rechtsanwälte, among others, in recent years with expert opinions and advice on this unique major project for regional rail transport.
The decision was made in March of this year that DB Regio AG will operate the trains on the S-Bahn network until December 2032. A new tendering procedure is being prepared for the provision of operating services with the new modern trains for the period after that.
The oldest vehicles used by the Cologne S-Bahn, i.e. the BR420, BR422, BR423 and BR424, are therefore likely to be replaced from the beginning of the 2030s.
The official signing of the contract with the manufacturer will take place at a later date in an appropriate setting.
