AUSTRIA: Open access operator Westbahn has unveiled the first of 15 third-generation six-car Kiss trainsets. Ordered from Stadler under a €300m full-service contract in October 2019, the double-deck EMUs are due to carry their first fare-paying passengers on September 9.
Westbahn announced during a press trip from Wien to Tullnerfeld on September 6 that the new fleet will be formally introduced on October 26 to coincide with the launch of Austria’s Klimaticket Now. Intended to encourage a shift to sustainable transport modes, this competitively-priced annual pass will be valid on all trains run by Austrian Federal Railways and Westbahn, as well as on public transport in six of Austria’s nine Länder.
From the same day Westbahn will offer three instead of two grades of accommodation: First, Comfort and Standard Class. Holders of Klimaticket Now passes will be able to use Comfort Class at no extra charge and with a free seat reservation.
The aluminium-bodied Kiss 3 sets are fitted with ETCS Level 2 Baseline 3 and offer improved pressure sealing, adjustments to the air-conditioning system and ‘optimised toilets featuring disinfectant dispensers’.
Despite offering 10% more seats than earlier KISS builds, each 320 tonne set achieves a 2 tonne weight reduction. The fleet is understood to be the first in Austria to be certified for operation by the European Railway Agency under the revised authorisation regime that forms part of the Fourth Railway Package.
December 2021 will mark the 10th anniversary of Westbahn services, and the company announced that from the timetable change on December 12 it plans to step up its Wien – Salzburg service to provide 29 trips each way. Six trains in each direction will be extended to and from München; these will call at München Ost to allow easy interchange to S-Bahn Line S8 serving München Flughafen.
Westbahn shareholder Hans Peter Haselsteiner told Herbert Kasser, General Secretary in the Climate Change Ministry who was representing Minister Leonore Gewessler, that he wanted Westbahn to be able to serve Bregenz in the future. He also had the ‘hope and vision’ that the company would one day run trains to Zürich.
The Kiss 3 fleet will be leased to Westbahn AG by Austrian Train Finance AG. This is 100% owned by private equity firm PCS Holding,, whose Chairman is Stadler Group CEO Peter Spuhler.
In early September Westbahn had received 10 of the 15 Kiss 3 sets. The company is currently awaiting delivery of four six-car EMUs from CRRC that it hopes will allow further expansion of services from 2023. Introduction of the Kiss 3 sets will release the remaining older Kiss EMUs that have been sold to DB Fernverkehr; following refurbishment those units are expected to enter service on the Stuttgart – Zürich route from the end of 2022.
Priced at €1 095 with an introductory offer of €949, Klimaticket Now is a national initiative to encourage the use of public transport. The government anticipates that the pass will be usable throughout the country once agreements have been reached with all nine Länder.
