First of many battery unit fleets in service
THE first fleet of Battery Electric Multiple Units (BEMUs) entered service in the northern German State of Schleswig-Holstein on October 1, from Kiel, on the short non-electrified branch to Kiel Oppendorf.
Three weeks later, more of the trains began operating the longer Kiel-Lübeck-Lüneburg regional route.
The 55 new BEMUs have been bought by Schleswig Holstein transport authority NAH.SH; each of the two-car Class 526 Stadler ‘Flirt Akku’ trains (Akku is German for battery) has 123 seats; the batteries are carried in roof-mounted sections or under the floor so they do not reduce capacity inside the train.
Stadler has a contract to maintain the fleet for 30 years at a purpose-built depot, currently being built in Rendsburg. It should open in early 2024.
Transport authority NAH.SH will lease the trains to the operators it has selected to run services on the non-electrified secondary routes that connect both coasts of the state. The three contracts cover the majority of non-electrified rail routes in the state.
Once fully BEMU-operated they will help Schleswig-Holstein achieve 68% electric operation for its regional services, despite most lines lacking overhead electrification, with around
10.4 million train kms of diesel operation removed annually, saving an estimated 10 million litres of diesel fuel.
The trains are designed to operate for up to 150km between recharges but timetable planning assumes 80km between charges. To enable the BEMUs to operate away from overhead catenary, three ‘electrification islands’ – which are electrified station platforms on otherwise non-electrified lines, have been built at key junction or reversal stations where the BEMUs can recharge from the standard 15kV AC overhead when stabled between services or when changing direction.
Several more BEMU fleets are being introduced in Germany in the next two years, from several manufacturers; Eleven Alstombuilt Coradia Continental BEMUs are scheduled to start operating services on the part non-electrified Leipzig to Chemnitz route from early 2024; 20 Siemens ‘Mireo+B’ Class 563 BEMUs will enter service on regional routes from Offenburg serving the Black Forest in December, and another 31 are on order for services in Brandenburg east of Berlin from late 2024.
From 2025 there will be more BEMUs as CAF is building a fleet of 73 ‘Civity’ BEMUs for transport authorities in the Ruhr region and Stadler has also won further orders for its ‘Flirt Akku’ with two fleets on order for operation in western and eastern Germany by DB Regio from 2025/26. BEMUs are also on order for use in several other EU countries from the mid-2020s.