Siemens and Stadler complete delivery of new Berlin S-Bahn trains
As of this week, all 106 new trains for the suburban S-Bahn in Berlin have been delivered on time and have entered passenger service, manufacturer consortium Siemens Mobility and Stadler announced.
Every day, around 1.4 million people use the S-Bahn Berlin trains, which operate on 16 lines in the capital and the state of Brandenburg. The 106 new vehicles were built at Stadler’s location in Berlin, together with Siemens Mobility, and are of the new 483/484 series. There are 21 quarter trains, which operate under the name BR 483, and consist of two walk-in cars. The 85 half-trains, which operate under the name BR 484, are made up of four walk-in cars.
Currently, four different series in use on Berlin’s tracks. The states of Berlin and Brandenburg financed the purchase of the trains. “Completion of the new fleet of trains on the Ring line marks a significant step forward for the S-Bahn service and the entire Berlin public transport system”, says Manja Schreiner, Berlin Senator for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection, and the Environment. “This progress can be directly experienced by passengers every day: the longer trains offer more seats; air conditioning and the state-of-the-art passenger information system enhance comfort and convenience.”
New S-Bahn fleet increases capacity
The new fleet increases the transport capacity in parts of Berlin’s S-Bahn network, expanding services. In the course of replacing the older trains, the number of cars per train was also increased. Longer trains operate on the Ring lines S41/S42 as well as the S8 line, and the S8 line is extended to Wildau during peak hours.
In concrete terms, this means that vehicles with eight instead of six cars now drive on the ring, and the space capacity will therefore increase by almost a third.
The new S-Bahn fleet now offers a total of around 18,000 seats. The new trains have entered service successively since the beginning of 2021, and have been operating on lines S41, S42, S46, S47 and S8 since then. According to S-Bahn CEO Peter Buchner, the new trains have already covered around 17 million kilometers in service. “We have received very positive responses to the new air-conditioned, quiet and comfortable trains – from our passengers as well as our employees.” In parallel, S-Bahn Berlin is continuing to implement its “BR 481 longevity programme”. In this project, more than 300 of the 500 trains in the 481 series (built between 1996 and 2004) have already been revamped.
Ute Bonde, Managing Director of Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg, looks forward to that: “Looking to the tasks ahead, we welcome the fact that S-Bahn Berlin GmbH is strongly committed to continuing its longevity program for the older 481 series trains. It is important to keep this main part of the S-Bahn fleet fully upgraded for operations until it is replaced by further new trains.”
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The new trains are no nice, no question. But they, for some stupid reason, made a horrible design decision…. the noise the doors make are so incredibly annoying. It freaks the shit out of everyone everytime, espacially in the morning when people are getting in all the time.
I seriously wonder how it got approved going through so many people who could have had their say.
Well, german bureaucrat sheeple must be the answer to it……