Train consortium awarded €343 million

, in a consortium with

, has been commissioned by

(DB Regio NRW) to supply 78 422 series trains.

The total value of the order, which includes an option for another 72 trains, is about €343 million. Alstom’s share represents €119 million. The new electric traction vehicles will be supplied between March 2008 and October 2010. Deutsche Bahn intends to operate the trains in the suburban rail network of North Rhine-Westphalia.

All 312 car bodies and 156 head bogies will be built by Alstom’s site in Salzgitter, Germany, which will also carry out the final assembly of 51 trains.

Bombardier will manufacture the complete electrical equipment as well as the Jacob-type bogies and will carry out the final assembly of the remaining 27 trains.

According to Alstom, vehicles of the 422 series represent a slightly modified variant of the 423 series and belong to the new generation of electric cars produced on a modular basis.

The new trains, which can travel at speeds of up to 140 km/h, can feed accumulated waste heat back into the heating system. At the same time, recirculation of the brake energy ensures low energy consumption.