Rail sector wants no new diesel trains by end of 2024

Rail industry associations and key companies have presented their joint vision of a climate friendly, cost-effective regional rail transport of the future, so that it can “bid farewell to the diesel drive”, writes the transport alliance Allianz pro Schiene in a press release. The sector’s eventual goal is 100 percent e-mobility, including fuel-cell and battery technologies on off-grid tracks, and giving up diesel for new trains by 2024, write companies including Siemens, Bombardier and Alstom in a paper. As trains are built to be used for up to 30 years, it is important that all actors now identify key characteristics for future regional transport. The paper should be seen as an “invitation by the sector to the government for a future pact on regional transport”, the paper says.

Find the press release in German here and the paper in German here.

For background, read the CLEW dossier The energy transition and Germany’s transport sector.