Framework rail contract worth up to 2.8 billion euros

The global transportation company Alstom has signed a framework agreement, worth up to 2.8 billion euros, with Hamburger Hochbahn AG. The contract covers the delivery of up to 374 new metro trains, for fully automated and semi-automated operation.

Alstom will also equip the 25km-long and fully automated new metro line U5 with the train-centric CBTC system Urbalis. The first call-off under this framework agreement, worth some 670 million euros, comprises 48 metro trains and the CBTC equipment for the first section of the U5 line, including five of the 23 new metro stations.

The framework agreement includes 254 semi-automated and 120 fully automated (GoA4) metro trains, all consisting of four cars. The fully automated trains are to be used on the line U5, which is currently under construction. The semi-automated trains will gradually replace the current DT4 vehicles and run semi-automated on parts of the existing network.

The U5 metro line will be fully equipped with the latest Urbalis signalling solution for driverless operation, which will increase punctuality, frequency and energy efficiency; and once all 23 stations have been completed, the U5 will operate at 90sec intervals, enabling around 270,000 passengers to be transported on the U5 every day.

New-generation DT6 metros
Production of the new-generation DT6 metros will take place at the Alstom site in Salzgitter, Germany, and is scheduled to start in 2026, with delivery of the first vehicles planned for early 2028. The start of passenger operation on the first section of the new line U5 is scheduled for 2029.

Müslüm Yakisan, Alstom’s president DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), said: “This contract is a milestone for Alstom. With the new metro trains and the equipping of the fully automated U5 line with innovative control and safety technology, Hamburg is meeting the growing demand for mobility and sending an international signal for digital and green mobility. All of Hamburg’s metro trains are from Alstom and we are delighted to be able to continue our successful collaboration with Hamburger Hochbahn.”

Anjes Tjarks, senator for ‘Transport and Mobility Transition’, added: “We are securing the future viability of our city with major investments in the expansion of the rail network and in intelligent and efficient transport systems ... with this contract, we are laying the foundation for the growth of the Hamburg subway in the coming decades.

“At the end of 2018, Hochbahn had around 250 vehicles in operation, currently there are 290. The contract will enable Hamburg to increase the number of subway trains in Hamburg by around 50% by 2050. This is a real quantum leap for the mobility transition and sustainable transportation.”