ALSTOM SA

Cologne Public Transport Authority commissions Alstom and Kiepe Electric to supply 64 trams

  

Cologne Public Transport Authority commissions Alstom and Kiepe Electric to supply 64 trams

The Cologne Public Transport Authority (Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe AG, KVB) has signed a contract with the manufacturer consortium Alstom and Kiepe Electric for the supply of 64 low-floor trams. The order for the new Citadis type trams with special adaptations for the German market is worth 363 million euros. Alstom’s share amounts to 60% of the total value of the contract.

Salzgitter/Düsseldorf, November 25, 2020. Alstom, one of the leading manufacturers of railway technology in Germany, is leading a consortium with partner Kiepe Electric, a subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse AG, the global market leader for braking and other systems for rail and commercial vehicles, that will build the new trams for Cologne's Public Transport Authority. The first pre-series vehicles will be delivered to the Cologne Public Transport Authority from end of 2023. The series vehicles will follow one year later at the end of 2024. The contract also includes some options for a total of 47 additional vehicle units.

“Following the contract with VGF in Frankfurt, this order is a further proof of the worldwide success of our flagship tram Citadis,” says Dr. Jörg Nikutta, Managing Director for Alstom in Germany and Austria. “Our trams will provide the passengers of the Cologne Public Transport Authority with the highest level of passenger comfort and will support the Cologne Public Transport Authority in successfully meeting the challenges of urban transport.”

Dr. Jürgen Wilder, Member of the Executive Board of Knorr-Bremse AG and responsible for the Rail Vehicle Systems division comments: “This is the largest single order in the history of Kiepe Electric. We are proud and at the same time forward-looking that a joint technical concept from companies of the Knorr-Bremse Group was convincing in the tender. We will justify the trust placed in us by our partner Alstom and the Cologne Public Transport Authority with future-proof technology and strong service.”

Alstom, as consortium leader, will produce 62 modern low-floor vehicles (60-meter long trains) and two low-floor vehicles with a length of around 30 meters at its Barcelona plant. The electrical components of the trams will be supplied by Kiepe Electric's Düsseldorf plant and will also be installed in the trams in Barcelona. The bogies for the Citadis trams will come from Alstom's Le Creusot plant in France.