SJ to buy new high speed trains from Bombardier.

[JonasB]

SJ's plans to buy new high speed trains (called Delta) have been halted by some legal battles. But they have continued the negotiations and are now ready to sign a contract with Bombardier, citing urgency as a reason to not redo the whole tender.

The order is for:

The production, manufacturing and delivery of electric multiple unit trains for long-distance travel having a maximum length of 179 meters, approximately 360 passenger seats, a maximum operational speed higher than or equal to 250 kilometers per hour and being capable of operating on both existing and future infrastructure in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

The initial base order will be between 25 and 30 trains with an option for SJ to order up to in total 40 trains including special tools and spare parts etc.

Read more: https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:287660-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0

 

[superalbs]

Not heard of these before!

More Reginas at a guess? Either that or Zefiro Express?

 

[JonasB]

They have been working on it for a while, but have kept it quiet. My guess is that this means Zefiro Express, I don't think Bombardier are so keen on building more Reginas.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Will these trains tilt like the X2000s?
Sweden doesn't have much scope for 250km/h operation without it.

 

[JonasB]

No tilt mentioned so I guess no.

Currently the signal system (ATC) limits trains to 200 km/h in Sweden (210 km/h in Norway), but new lines have been built for 250 since the 90s at least so on many lines it is just a matter of replacing ATC with ETCS. In fact, a report from Trafikverket released recently suggested that there are several parts of the railway network where upgrading to speeds above 200 km/h would make sense.

In addition there is the long debate about high speed lines in Sweden. Preparations are being done for Ostlänken (the east link) but support for it in parliament is not as solid as it could be.

 

[JonasB]

There have been some legal hurdles, I guess the other manufacturers didn't like the fact that SJ wanted to sign a contract with Bombardier and appealed. So SJ will redo the tender, more information available here: https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:363949-2020:TEXT:DE:HTML&tabId=1

The tender is for "Electrical trainsets and interconnected deliverables including documentation, training, spare parts, special tools, related IT systems and services. Estimated of up to in total 40 trainsets. Intended for operation on future high-speed railways at least in Sweden and on the existing railway infrastructure in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The trains shall have a maximum operational speed higher than or equal to 250 km/h."

An interesting note:

II.2.5)Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents

While I haven't read the documents, my guess is that a fast delivery will be important as well.