AUSTRIAN private operator Westbahn has confirmed a contract with Stadler for the supply of 11 250km/h Smile EMUs. Three of the trains will be delivered in time for deployment on the new Vienna - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach service that Westbahn will launch on March 1 2026.
Westbahn will offer five services in each direction every day on the new route that will use the new 130km Koralm Railway, which is on course to open between Graz and Klagenfurt in December. Departing from Vienna main station, the trains will also stop at Vienna Meidling, Wiener Neustadt, Semmering, and Bruck an der Mur.
The 11-car, 202m-long articulated Smile trains will have capacity for 422 seated passengers, including 288 in standard class. Power sockets will be provided at every seat, along with free Wi-Fi, step-free access from 550mm and 760mm platform heights, and spaces for bicycles.
Manufacturing will take place at Stadler’s plant in Bussnang, Switzerland. The trains will be equipped with 15kV ac, 25kV ac and 3kV dc traction equipment, offering a maximum acceleration of 0.77m/s2. They will be authorised for operation in Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Italy.
The new trains will complement the operator’s existing fleet of 15 six-car double-deck Kiss 3 EMUs also built by Stadler. Westbahn confirmed to IRJ recently that it is still working to certify the fleet of four six-car double-deck EMUs that it plans to lease from CRRC under a deal announced in 2021.
Stadler says delivery of the Smile fleet will take place less than two years after the contract has been signed. It says commissioning of such a fleet normally takes four to five years.
“We are delighted to have an innovative and forward-looking partner in Westbahn, and together, be able to deploy high-speed trains within a very short space of time,” says Christian Diewald, managing director of Stadler Austria.
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