Together with the Central Saxony transport authority, Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen (VMS), Alstom has exhibited a new battery-powered train that it has developed.

VMS, which was was formed in November 1997, delivers public transport across the Chemnitz area, including the city of Chemnitz where today’s presentation took place.

It also serves the surrounding districts of Zwickau, Mittelsachsen and the Erzgebirge, covering a total area of 5,115 km² with 1.23 million residents.

VMS has ordered eleven Coradia Continental battery-electric trains, which will enter service in 2024 on the Chemnitz-Leipzig line.

The Coradia Continental battery-electric train can travel up to 120 kilometres by battery power,

The trains can seat one hundred and fifty passengers in their three cars, and are 56 metres long. In battery mode, the train can travel at speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour. Although the capacity of the high-performance lithium-ion batteries is calculated to guarantee catenary-free operation on the Chemnitz-Leipzig line, it can also under operate under overhead wires.

Some of the construction work on the trains has taken place at the German sites of Salzgitter and Mannheim. Alstom’s Tarbes site designed and supplied the battery traction subsystem.

Alstom has sold over 3,500 Coradia trains so far. Around 2,900 are operating in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada.

Müslüm Yakisan, President of Alstom Region DACH, said, “With hydrogen and battery trains, Alstom offers its customers two environmentally friendly alternative drive solutions for rail.

“Alstom’s ambition is to be the global leader in sustainable mobility, reducing emissions and pollution in catenary-free operation. The presentation of the first battery-powered train developed by Alstom is an important step in this direction. With the Coradia iLint, Alstom also has the world’s first hydrogen train in commercial service in its portfolio. With hydrogen and battery trains, Alstom offers its customers two environmentally friendly alternative drive solutions for rail.”

Mathias Korda, Managing Director of Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen GmbH (VMS), said, “With the battery trains from Alstom, we want to start into the future of local rail passenger transport. We will be able to run electrically on one of the most important rail routes in the transport association without it already being electrified. Being able to travel cleanly, environmentally friendly and comfortably between Chemnitz and Leipzig is the result of the interplay between regional ownership as a transport association and innovative technology from Alstom.”