Germany takes on Alstom trains

German railway operator DB Regio has ordered 39 Coradia Lirex regional trains worth €150m from Alstom, which will be built at Alstom’s factory at Salzgitter, Germany.

German railway operator DB Regio has placed two orders worth approximately €150m with Alstom for 39 Coradia Lirex regional trains.

The first order is for 12 Coradia Lirex trains that will operate on the Munich to Passau line, and will enter service at the end of 2009. The rest of the trains will serve the region of Wurzburg, Bavaria, with eight put into service at the end of 2009 and the remaining 19 at the end of 2010.

The Coradia Lirex trains, which have speeds of up to 160kph, can be customised in terms of length of coaches, number of doors and interior design, depending on individual requirements. Main features include adaptable multi-activity areas and lowered floor and gangways between the coaches.

According to Alstom, the trains are 95 per cent recyclable.

Since the launch of the first regional trains from the Coradia Lirex range in 2002, Alstom has sold 200 trainsets in Germany and Sweden.