Unlike yesterday, it was not pouring with rain today and so the umbrellas and wet shoes were replaced with canapés, drinks and lively music.
And not to say I was consequently in a good mood during this presentation, but I do find the red colour scheme of the trains for Austrian State Railways particularly attractive.
The presentation was attended by Peter Spuhler, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Stadler, and Andreas Matthä, CEO of ÖBB.
“If you look at the vehicle then you can imagine how important it is. We made several attempts in Austria with ÖBB until we were able to push through with the double-decker and we are of course overjoyed that we have received this framework agreement for 186 trains and 126 have already been called up.”
The weather has not just been a problem at InnoTrans of course (where it was just a minor inconvenience) – an increasingly volatile climate is already putting pressure on our rail networks.
Mr Spuhler said that the site where the train was put into operation was currently flooded. He joked that “We now write on every double-decker, ‘I am also a boat’.”
“I'm pleased, you had half a metre of water in the train, we have a metre of water in the tunnel, but you'll be back in service sooner than us, so it will still take a while for us.”
Nevertheless, he said, the demand for rail travel was unbroken.
“We have a 10% increase in local transport again this year, then there are huge numbers of people here who want modern, comfortable journeys and we can generate this with vehicles like these.
“Some time ago, we therefore decided on a comprehensive investment programme of 6.1 billion euros for new trains, and we have also called up large parts of it, both in local and long-distance transport. And at the end of the programme, we would like to have 330 new trains that will make our customers happy, so to speak, and hopefully also us, the manufacturers, above all Stadler, of course.”
Commenting on the train’s technical highlights and innovations, he said the trains were extremely well motorised. The headway between trains was very close and having a lot of power meant the trains could make up delays and keep the whole network running on time.
He said Austrian Federal Railways had chosen this particular train because it was all about time-keeping. A punctual train keeps everyone happy and then the system just works and no one is talking about it. He quipped, “But a timepiece needs precision and what could be better than getting a Swiss timepiece?”
“Peter Spuhler is not laughing now, but I have just raised the expectations because this vehicle will not be used in high-frequency transport, it has to be highly available and we are convinced that we have found the right partner here in Stadler – I'm not saying supplier – partner who will master this challenge together with us.”
To date, more than 600 of these trains that Stadler calls “KISS” have been sold, to countries such as Germany, Russia, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Slovenia, Georgia and the United States – and when someone in the audience shouted out Turkey, Mr Spuhler said they weren’t running there yet but he did have his order book ready should there be interest.
KISS trains first began operating in 2010.
