Spanish vehicle manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) has secured a contract from Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) and Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL) transport authorities in Germany to deliver battery-electric trains.
VRR and NWL had previously awarded the CAF the contract after a Europe-wide tendering process and are thus relying on innovative drive technologies in regional transport. From 2025, the SPNV authorities will switch diesel operation in the Niederrhein-Münsterland network (NMN) to locally emission-free vehicles and offer passengers additional seating capacity.
"This makes the Niederrhein-Münsterland network the first SPNV network in NRW with alternative drives and at the same time the largest BEMU network in the whole of Germany," said VRR board member Ronald RF Lünser.
The network includes the seven regional transport lines RE 10, RE 14, RE 44, RB 31, RB 36, RB 37 and RB 43 with annual transport services of over six million train kilometers.