First Bayerische Oberlandbahn Coradia Lint DMUs

Bayerische Oberlandbahn received its first two Coradia Lint DMUs of 31 on order for services in the Bavarian region Oberland, these being 622 471 and 472, which left Alstom Salzgitter works on 17 March 2020.

Initially, on 19 December 2018 Bayerische Oberlandbahn GmbH (BOB), Holzkirchen, awarded Alstom a contract for 25 two-car Coradia Lint 54 DMUs for services between München, Holzkirchen, Lenggries, Tegernsee and Bayrischzell. They are being built in Salzgitter works, for delivery and putting into service by summer 2020. Then on 16 September 2019 Bayerische Oberlandbahn ordered six more Lints to be delivered in late 2020 for the start of the new timetable in December.

The Class 622 DMUs (622 471 to 499) will be designated VT 469 to 499 by the operator. They have a top service speed of 140 km/h, and a power rating of 1,170 kW (three 390 kW diesel engines). They have 150 seats, space for around 177 standees, a flexibly designed multi-purpose area with space for 12 bikes, and one WC cubicle. Power and USB sockets are provided, and a passenger information system and CCTV are installed. At the entrance vestibules threshold entrance height is 760 mm above rail top. 

The new DMUs will be located and maintained at Lenggries depot and will replace 17 Integral Verkehrstechnik-built Integral and nine Bombardier-built Talent DMUs. The Integrals, VT101 to VT117, were built between 1997 and 1998, and suffered serious teething problems, resulting in them being returned to the manufacturer in 2000 for various modifications to improve their availability. They were returned to regular service in 2001, and now they are over 20 years old.

Following the commercial test service, starting with the „small“ timetable change in mid-June 2020, the Talents are to be replaced by Lints in a first step. In the second step, planned for summer of 2020, the Integrals will be replaced. Six additionally ordered Lints are envisaged to be added to the fleet in December 2020. This new uniform fleet will enable greater operational stability and a possibility of running in multiple, offering a possibility of capacity enhancements and additional services. This is necessary, since in the 2021 timetable it is planned to rise the number of services.

Electrification of the lines in the Bayerisches Oberland is not anticipated to take place before 2030. The Lints, which by then will be only 10 years old, are regarded as an interim measure. The existing contract for Bayerisches Oberland services expires, at the latest, in 2026. To bid competitively for the new contract the chosen operator would in any case have had to pledge new trains.

Taking into account the age of the present DMU fleet, BEG states that it made sense to replace these trains earlier than 2026 and use the Lints until electrification takes place. The arrival of the Lints will probably result in the withdrawal of the Integral DMUs, which were only a small batch, purpose-built for this group of services. They, unlike the Talents, are of non-standard construction, and their manufacturer, Integral Verkehrstechnik of Jenbach, went bankrupt in 2001.