GERMANY: The Hamburg city Senate has announced plans to order a further series of Class 490 EMUs to support expansion of the city’s S-Bahn network.
Citing projects such as the S4 extension to Bad Oldesloe, the S21 extension to Kaltenkirchen and the proposed S32 western branch to Osdorfer Born, as well as three-tracking of the Harburg line and increased frequencies to support the Hamburg-Takt regular interval timetable, the Senate has recommended the procurement of a further 64 three-car EMUs over 10 years at an estimated cost of €400m.
The units would be ordered as an option on the contracts placed with Bombardier Transporation from 2013 for initial builds of 60 and 22 Class 490s, the last of which entered traffic with DB Regio subsidiary S-Bahn Hamburg GmbH in February. Unlike the earlier build which included some third rail-only sets, all of the additional build would be equipped for dual-voltage operation.
The proposal has been passed on to the transport committee of the city state’s unicameral Bürgerschaft and the joint working group with the neighbouring Land of Schleswig-Holstein, which is also served by the S-Bahn network. Subject to formal endorsement, contract award is expected to be confirmed by May.
