GERMANY: Bombardier Transportation confirmed on November 19 that DB Regio had placed a further order for Class 442 Talent EMUs valued at around €200m.

The 36 three-car and 15 four-car EMUs will be used on the new Mitteldeutsche S-Bahn network radiating from Leipzig, which is due to open in December 2013.

Centrepiece of the new S-Bahn network is the cross-city tunnel currently being constructed between Leipzig Hbf and the city’s historic Bayerischer Bahnhof. This had been expected to open in December 2011, but will not now be ready until two years later. Tenders were invited in 2008 for the operation of a five-line S-Bahn network, with the contract being awarded to DB Regio subsidiary S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland GmbH on September 21 this year.

The Class 442 EMUs are being supplied under a framework contract agreed by DB and Bombardier in February 2007 covering the supply of up to 321 trainsets. The latest deal brings the number of firm orders to 287, following two earlier agreements signed at the end of August. These cover 23 five-car trains for service on the Warnow network of regional services in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, plus 34 four-car and 3 two-car units for the Werdenfels network in Bayern.