AUSTRIAN Federal Railways (ÖBB) has ordered seven additional three-car Flirt Akku battery EMUs from Stadler for delivery in 2028. The value of the order has not been disclosed.
This is the second call off from a €1.3bn 10-year framework agreement signed in July 2023 for up to 120 Flirt Akku BEMUs. The first call-off included 16 trains for the Kamptal line.
The trains will enter service in Lower Austria from the start of the new timetable in December 2028 where they will replace DMUs on two non-electrified lines: the 34km Kamptal line between Hadersdorf am Kamp and Horn and the Erlauftal line linking Pöchlarn via Wieselburg to Scheibbs, which ÖBB plans to electrify between 2030 and 2033.
Each Flirt Akku BEMU will have more than 160 seats, multipurpose areas for pushchairs, wheelchairs and bicycles, power sockets and USB-C ports.
Stadler says that by replacing existing DMUs with battery trains, ÖBB will save up to 500,000 litres of diesel per year, which should reduce annual CO₂ emissions by around 1200 tonnes.
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