InnoTrans 2024 report (24)

As the representative of the regional trains for InnoTrans 2024, Alstom has chosen the Coradia Max EMU (formerly called Coradia Stream HC). Specifically, four vehicles of the EMU were on display, coming from an order from the state of Niedersachsen, which ordered 34 units in the basic four-car configuration through its LNVG (Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen) pool on 25 February 2021, as well as an additional 18 intermediate double deck cars for other configurations. In addition, Alstom will provide maintenance of the trains for 30 years. The exhibited EMU consisted of the following cars: an unpowered double-deck end-car (94 80 0847 033), two intermediate single-deck powered cars (94 80 0447 001 + 94 80 0447 201) and one intermediate non-powered double-deck car (94 80 0847 230).

In the case of the LNVG order, this is the first double-decker unit for Germany using the D3 leading gauge, allowing for increased passenger space on the upper deck. The trains are manufactured at the Alstom Salzgitter plant and are intended for the Expresskreuz Bremen/Niedersachsen (EBN) network, which will include the following lines:

• RE1 Hannover - Bremen - Oldenburg - Norddeich Mole/Wilhelmshaven,
• RE8 Hannover - Bremen - Bremerhaven-Lehe,
• RE9 Osnabrück - Bremen - Bremerhaven-Lehe.

DB Regio was selected as the operator for this network in July 2023. The original plan was to start service with new units on the EBN from the end of 2024, but deliveries have gradually been delayed. The first delay was announced in December 2022, Alstom then informed the customer in December 2023 about a further delay with the first 10 units to be delivered by summer 2025 and the rest by December of that year.

In August 2024, an expectation of approval and delivery of the first 20 six-car units from the end of 2025 was communicated, with the rest of the order expected to be in service by summer 2026. In November 2024, Alstom then announced a further delay and a plan to deliver the first 20 units by March 2026. LNVG and the Land of Niedersachsen, as the customer, are not satisfied with this situation and therefore, when the latest delay was announced, stated that the manufacturer was contractually obliged to provide replacement vehicles and that LNVG would apply a contractual penalty. DB Regio had originally envisaged deploying the first units on the RE8 line first from late 2024.

The Coradia Max EMUs from this contract were initially specified as a four-car basic configuration, consisting of two unpowered double deck end-cars and two intermediate single-deck driving cars. However, testing to date has been primarily with a six-car formation consisting of four double-deck trailing cars and two single-deck powered cars in the middle. The LNVG’s Coradia Max made its first test runs as part of the commissioning in February 2024 on the factory track at the Salzgitter plant, later it was delivered to the VUZ Velim by the end of May 2024.

According to the information provided at the time of InnoTrans, this version was to be approved by the end of 2025; however, from the list of delays mentioned above, it is clear that this is no longer the case. The approval of the six-car configuration is to be followed by the approval of other possible unit compositions - four-car, but also three- or five-car.