KISS EMUs for ÖBB's railjet

ÖBB and Stadler are continuing the joint replacement of the operator’s regional and long-distance fleet. Last year, ÖBB called off 41 regional KISSes  from a framework agreement for 186 trains. On 6 July 2023 ÖBB and Stadler signed the contract for exercising the next option with a volume of around 600 million EUR. This comprises 35 KISSes, of which 14 will be 200 km/h six-car ones for long-distance services and 21 160 km/h four-car ones for regional transport. The new trains are scheduled to start operation from mid-2026. The regional KISSes will offer around 380 seats in the four-car configuration, the long-distance six-car units will provide around 480 seats in 1st and 2nd class, and have two catering zones.

The KISS EMUs ordered as part of the first call-off in April 2022 will go into assembly and are scheduled for service in the eastern region as of 2026. Andreas Matthä, ÖBB CEO, said: "At ÖBB, the passenger boom continues: long-distance transport recorded a total of 41.6 million passengers in 2022 - even surpassing our previous record year of 2019. Not only are we very proud of this result, but we are also implementing other measures to further increase capacity on our trains. We are investing in the heart of our long-distance service - the railjet - and will be adding modern double deck EMUs to the existing fleet for the first time."  

Thanks to the increased presence of its vehicles and the rising volume of orders in Austria, Stadler is further expanding its location in Wien. This will enable the company to focus even better on its customers in Austria. In addition to the sales office, an engineering hub is being established in Wien to enable the efficient and rapid implementation of customized solutions for customers in Austria in the future. The new competence centre will create around 50 new qualified jobs for engineers in the fields of development, approval and service.