Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) has pulled the trigger on a major upgrade, ordering the first 70 trains from a massive framework agreement signed with Siemens Mobility last summer.
It is expected that the new trainsets which will be delivered in three different versions will be ready for service from late 2027 onwards.
The new trains are the latest evolution of Siemens' popular Mireo electric multiple-units, already a proven hit across Europe. The order caters for the regions diverse needs, with eleven smaller trains for semi-urban travel, 28 longer 106-metre models for use across the regions and the 31 trainsets that will be designed to traverse the Alps, have all been confirmed for the first order.
"Siemens Mobility and ÖBB have long enjoyed a strong and trusting partnership," declared Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility. "We are especially proud to deliver a further development of the Mireo platform to ÖBB as a single car concept for the company's new fleet. With their numerous innovations, cross-border operating capability, and high level of passenger comfort and convenience, the new Mireo trains will help make ÖBB's local and regional transport even more attractive."
ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä echoes this sentiment: "With the additional 70 multiple-unit trains, we are consistently continuing our investment programme in a modern fleet. The new trains have a speed of 160 km/h and offer increased passenger comfort, barrier-free boarding, the option of transporting bicycles and Wi-Fi. In addition, a special focus was placed on efficient energy consumption."
Austrian ingenuity will play a bigger role in this order of Mireo's however, with the trainsets set to be installed with the SF7500 bogies, which were initially developed at the Siemens Mobility competence centre in Graz.
The deployment of the SF7500 bogie will be in contrast to previous Mireo trains, in which two cars shared one so-called ‘Jacobs’ bogie. The ÖBB Mireo cars will instead have two bogies.
Several of these bogies will be powered by high-performance traction motors, which should ensure a optimal balance between traction and energy efficiency.
Siemens Mobility confirmed the Mireo trains will be built across its network of manufacturing facilities, with the state-of-the-art bogies built at the competence centre.
Photo: Siemens
