Talent BEMU Wins Innovation Award

The Bombardier-built Talent 3 battery electric multiple unit (see Railvolution 5/18, pp. 48 - 49) was awarded the renowned Berlin Brandenburg innovation award on 30 November 2018. The train operates emission-free, thereby making a significant contribution towards environmentally-friendly mobility. It can be used to bridge non-electrified lines and to replace diesel-powered trains by clean battery-powered vehicles. A distinguished, 17-member jury selected the BEMU as one of the winners from among ten finalists.

Bombardier will allocate the prize money of 10,000 EUR to promote innovation and social responsibility. One part will be used to organize a hackathon event with (disadvantaged) youth and students on the topic „Train of the Future“, in cooperation with Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin). The other part will be donated to the Children’s Hospice Sonnenhof in Berlin.

The battery Talent unit was developed in cooperation with various project partners. These include the DB Regio subsidiary DB ZugBus Regionalverkehr Alb-Bodensee (regional transport for the Lake Constance region), Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (Baden-Wuerttemberg Regional Transport Company) and the Nationale Organisation Wasserstoff- und Brennstoffzellentechnologie (National Organisation for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology) and TU Berlin. Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) contributed to the funding of the project with a grant of four million euros.

The second photo shows (from left to right): Stefan von Mach, Chief Engineer TALENT 3 BEMU, Bombardier; Prof. Dr. Dietmar Göhlich, TU Berlin; Martin Schön, R&D Manager, Region CEC, Bombardier; Ramona Pop, Mayor of Berlin and Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises; Christoph Augenstein, Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg; Jörg Steinbach, Minister for Economics and Energy of Brandenburg.