GERMANY: The first of the Stadler Flirt Akku battery-electric multiple-units ordered by Schleswig-Holstein transport authority NAH.SH have entered revenue service with operator Erixx Holstein.
‘We are taking a huge step towards zero-emission local transport with the 55 battery trains that will run on 11 lines in the Land by the middle of next year’, said Schleswig-Holstein’s Transport Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen. ‘We can be really proud of our leadership.’
Regular BEMU services began on route RB76 between Kiel and Kiel-Oppendorf on October 1, followed by Kiel – Lübeck – Lüneburg from October 22. BEMUs are to be introduced on the Büsum – Heide route from the December timetable change, and all 55 units are scheduled to enter service by mid-2024. Erixx will operate 26 of them.
NAH.SH ordered the units in 2019 to replace diesel multiple-units on the 11 routes. One they have all been introduced, 68% of the Land’s passenger routes will be operated with electric traction, the second-highest among the Länder. According to Stadler, the BEMUs will replace 10·4 million train-km of diesel operation a year, or 40% of all train-km in the Land, saving an estimated 10 million litres of fuel and about 26 000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
Electrification islands
The 46 m long two-car BEMUs can carry up to 198 passengers, and have 124 seats specified with a relatively wide spacing. They have been designed to provide level boarding, with the entrance doorways at the same height as the platforms. Each unit has two multifunctional zones for wheelchair users, pushchairs and bicycles, and an accessible toilet. Features include air-conditioning, wi-fi and power sockets.
The batteries are mounted on the roof and underneath the vehicle, giving a range of at least 80 km for a fully-loaded train.
The batteries are charged when the trains are operating on sections of route with 15 kV 16·7 Hz electrification and at stations fitted with overhead catenary. DB Netz is spending €40m to install electrification ‘islands’ totalling 11 km on selected routes by December, which will reduce the longest unelectrified gaps to less than 80 km.
The Flirt Akku contract includes 30 years of maintenance, for which Stadler is building a dedicated workshop in Rendsburg at a cost of €30m. This is expected to open in spring 2024.
