Siemens and Bombardier said they reached an agreement with DB and Germany’s Federal Railway Authority (EBA) on a reworking and testing concept for “welds that were occasionally not executed in the specified quality on ICE 4 bodyshells.”
The trains are being supplied by Siemens but the production of painted car bodies, inside-frame bogies and completion of three types of vehicles (including driving cars) is subcontracted to Bombardier, which is carrying out the work at its factories in Germany and Poland.
Siemens says that since these deviations do not preclude safe operation, the affected cars have been approved for use in passenger service. Following the agreement, five ICE 4 trains will be accepted by DB in the coming days and enter service, expanding its fleet of ICE 4 trains to 30 sets.
DB will continue receiving the remaining ICE 4 trains as planned and immediately place them in service.
The reworking will be carried out during operation under the warranty from Bombardier and should not have any effects on passenger service. A detailed timetable for the reworking is currently being developed between the manufacturers and DB.
According to current plans, the reworking should begin early in 2020 and be completed by mid-2023.
Under a revised contract effective from April 2017, Siemens is delivering 100 12-car ICE 4 EMUs (class 412) and 19 seven-coach trains. DB also has options under the original contract to order up to 170 more trains before 2030.
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