Austrian Federal Railways has awarded Swiss railway rolling-stock manufacturer Stadler a framework agreement for up to 120 FLIRT Akku battery-powered trains. The first 16 are expected to be delivered by fall of this year.

The vehicles are designed to replace the current diesel fleet in the eastern region of Austria. They will enable sustainable operation on lines that are only partially electrified. This is accomplished on non-electrified line sections by charging the batteries while traveling under overhead contact lines.

The normal battery-powered operating range is about 100 km, but Stadler says the FLIRT Akku holds the world’s record for the longest distance traveled by a regional train in battery-only mode without additional charging: 224 km.

Stadler, which also offers hydrogen and hybrid propulsion trains, is supplying 55 FLIRT Akku vehicles for the Schleswig-Holstein local transport network, 44 for the Palatinate network, 14 for Deutsche Bahn’s H-Netz, and six for the Lithuanian rail operator LTG Link.

Source: Stadler