Abellio North Rhine Westphalia have won a contract to operate Lot B of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn. The decision will be formally awarded on 17 July 2016, following a ten day opposition period. The decision was announced by Verkehrsbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR). Abellio will begin operations from December 2019, the contract covers a duration of fifteen years. Abellio will operate 29 new Stadler FLIRT3 type EMUs.
Lot B of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn is made up of six lines, amounting to approximately 7.1 million train kilometres annually. The services Abellio will take over are:
- RB 3 – Dortmund – Duisburg
- RB 40 – Hagen – Essen
- RB 41 – Wesel – Wuppertal
- S2 – Dortmund Recklinghausen / Essen
- S 3 – Oberhausen – Hattingen
- S 9 – Hagen – Recklinghausen / Haltern am See
Stephan Krenz, Managing Director of Abellio Germany:
“Abellio will make travelling by train in the Rhine-Ruhr area fun again. This award for the biggest lot in the tender shows once again that we are the quality leaders in the North Rhine Westphalia area. With this new lot, Abellio’s presence as a competitive rail business grows in Germany. This is clearly the merit of our employees who go above and beyond to offer our passengers the best service every single day.”
Ronald R.F. Lünser, Managing Director Abellio North Rhine Westphalia, said:
“In North Rhine-Westphalia, Abellio is known for its reliable performance and outstanding service. In the future, passengers of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn will now also benefit from our service and quality. The new lines are an important complement to our existing network. This is a challenge that we will tackle with joy and commitment.”
Stadler Pankow’s successful FLIRT 3 EMUs FLIRT3 EMUs have a maximum speed of 160km/h, with high drive performance. They are universally accessible with barrier-free access and low floors throughout. The passenger area is equipped with gap-bridging and sliding steps. They are in use in Europe and North America.
