Innovative battery technology for Central Saxony rail transport

• KfW IPEX-Bank to finance 11 new battery-powered electric multiple-unit trains
• Electrical operation on electrified and non-electrified lines
• Diesel locomotives to be replaced between Chemnitz and Leipzig

As mandated lead arranger, KfW IPEX-Bank, together with Nord/LB and Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB), is financing 11 new battery-powered electric multiple units (BEMU) for Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen (VMS), the local transport authority. The financing of EUR 49 million has a term of 22 years. As early as 2014, the three banks had jointly financed 29 (conventional) electric multiple units for VMS.

The Coradia Continental trains of the French manufacturer Alstom are manufactured in Salzgitter, Germany. With the help of a new kind of battery technology, they can operate electrically with overhead wires as well as on non-electrified routes – in this case with the battery. The innovative multiple units are to be used on the important route between Chemnitz and Leipzig, which is currently served by diesel locomotives.

“We are pleased that, together with our proven business partners, we are able to contribute to taking one of today's most environmentally friendly forms of mobility – rail transport – to a new level”, said Andreas Ufer, Member of the Management Board of KfW IPEX-Bank. “The financing not only contributes to directly reducing CO2 emissions, but also to promoting new and sustainable technologies in rail transport. The financing is further evidence of KfW IPEX-Bank's commitment to using these technologies in Germany and Europe.”