Today, Siemens Mobility unveiled its design of its new S-Bahn for Munich.
Attending the event were Christian Bernreiter, Bavarian State Minister for Housing, Building and Transport, Karl Blaim, Siemens Mobility’s Managing Director and CFO, Heiko Büttner, DB Group Representative for the Free State of Bavaria and CEO of S-Bahn München.
The first of a total of 90 trains will be delivered to Munich by late 2028.
Minister Bernreiter was inspired by Germany’s Sports Minister signing a preliminary agreement to bid for the country to host the 2040 Olympic Games.
“Last week, when our Minister President said that we were applying for the Olympics in 2040, we said that was of course a date. The first main line with the S-Bahn went into operation in 1972.
“Of course, we would be delighted if the second main line could really go to the 2040 Olympics, if it all works out.”
However, at the same time he pleaded for patience. A lot of the infrastructure and signalling equipment is undergoing significant upgrades in Munich and it will take some time to get the system fully up and running.
Heiko Büttner first expressed his pride for the project: trains from Bavaria, for Bavaria.
“After a year of very intensive work, we are delighted that the exterior design of the new S-Bahn trains will be presented here today. The project is running to schedule and we will start production of the trains in 2025, i.e. next year.”
From a technological perspective, Karl Blaim said these vehicles were future-proof.
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The new 200-metre trains will be fully accessible from the front and rear, offering space for more than 1,800 passengers. This, Mr Büttner said, would allow Munich to replace up to 1,500 cars during rush hour with just a single train, demonstrating what a strong rail system could achieve in a congested capital like Munich.
Features
Each train will have more than 160 interior and exterior displays to give passengers comprehensive real-time information about the route, stations and occupancy. Passengers will be told where stairs and elevators are located at each station before disembarking.
There will be five large multi-purpose areas enabling passengers with bicycles or pushchairs to find somewhere suitable quickly.
The powerful air-conditioning system will keep interior temperatures pleasant with outside temperatures of up to 45 degrees.
At this presentation, the train’s Wi-Fi capabilities and mobile-permeable windows were lauded. A train with useable Wi-Fi would indeed be something worth celebrating.
Each train will also have USB sockets at every seat.
Appearance
In line with Bavaria’s colours, the exterior of the train will feature a white and blue design. The exterior design was developed together with design studio neomind and combines digital and static elements. A continuous LED strip in the upper area will show the colour of the respective S-Bahn line. From an accessibility perspective, the colour scheme uses strong light and dark contrasts with dark grey doors designed to stand out clearly from the lighter body
