Skoda Transportation (www.skoda.cz) has received the TSI (Technical Specification for Interoperability) certificate from Germany’s Federal Railway Authority for both its 109E3 locomotives and its bi-level high-speed MNE (Munich-Nuremberg Express) trains.

These trains will start replacing the old InterCity units next spring, with the entire fleet of new trains expected
to be operating in June.

Skoda Transportation has manufactured six modern high-capacity bi-level trains, including six locomotives, for the German operator Deutsche Bahn Regio.

These push-pull trains are designed for operation on the important Nuremberg-Ingolstadt-Munich route; they can cover the journey from Munich to Nuremberg in 1hr 45min — just 30min longer than the ICE high-speed trains.

Zdenek Majer, Skoda Transportation’s vice-president of sales, said: “The supply of the trains has been delayed by more than two years, the main reason being the challenging development of pressure-tight carriages, as well as tests of whole trains, which will be in close proximity to ICE trains moving at 300kph in normal operation.”

The trains consist of a control carriage, an end carriage and four other carriages, plus an Emil Zátopek 109E3 locomotive.

Designed with a maximum speed of 200kph, they will be operated at a maximum speed of 190kph.