GERMANY: Bayern railway authority BEG has launched the process of selecting a company to operate Allgäu regional passenger services using a future fleet of emission-free tilting multiple units which would be able to use overhead electric, hydrogen and battery power.
The services are currently operated by DB Regio using Bombardier RegioSwinger Class 612 two-car tilting diesel multiple-units dating from 1998-2003.
The next Neigetechnik Allgäu (tilting train Allgäu) operating contract which BEG expects to award in Q2 2025 is scheduled to run from December 2029 to December 2041.
There would be two phases to the contract, with the first covering the introduction of the new trainsets. The second phase would see some reshuffling of routes once the replacement fleet is in service, with routes RE71 and RE73 Augsburg – Türkheim – Memmingen/Bad Wörishofen expected to be removed from the contract and operated with non-tilting trains, and RE79 Augsburg – Buchloe – Kempten added to the contract and tilting trains introduced to reduce journey times.
Reliability is a priority, and ‘only when the new tilting technology vehicle has proven itself in everyday operations will the fleet be completely replaced’, BEG Managing Director Bärbel Fuchs said on July 15.
Bayern Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter said ’this is one of the most exciting and challenging tenders since the Land took over responsibility for local passenger rail transport almost 30 years ago’. He said modern tilting trains are needed to enable the operation of the finely balanced timetable with optimal transfer connections on the hilly Allgäu network.
The new trains would be a world first and ‘usher in the tilting technology era 2.0’, with Bayern being ’trendsetters with such vehicles’.
The rolling stock order would also include tilting trainsets which would be made available to the future operator of Expressverkehr Nordostbayern services from December 2032.
- BEG has awarded Transdev’s Bayerische Oberlandbahn the Oberland 2027+ contract to continue operating regional DMU services from München to Bayrischzell, Lenggries and Tegernsee totalling 2·4 million train-km/year. The contract runs from December 2026 to 2037, with BEG having options to terminate from 2032 should proposed electrification go ahead.
