Former DLR trains are set to be replaced in Germany

CAF has won a €150 million contract from Essen-based light rail operator Ruhrbahn to buy 51 new 28m-long, two-section standard gauge LRVs. The new vehicles will replace Ruhrbahn’s remaining B80C/B100S ‘Stadtbahn-B Wagen’ trams (built by Duewag 1976-85) and all the former London Docklands Light Railway type P86 (10 LRVs built Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) Salzgitter 1986) and 10 type P89 ex-DLR trains (BREL York 1989).

These were bought second hand from London by former Essen tram operator EVAG in 1991-96 and modernised with pantographs. One ex-DLR train has already been scrapped in Germany. The new CAF vehicles will be built in Spain and delivered to Germany between 2024 and the end of 2026.

KEITH FENDER. Ruhrbahn type P86 unit No. 5234, originally DLR set 04 (built LHB Salzgitter 1986), at the underground station under Mülheim (Ruhr) Hauptbahnhof. The ex-London P86/P89 vehicles operate route U18 to Essen along with older Stadtbahn-B Wagen trams, which will also be replaced by the new CAF LRVs.