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Bombardier has delivered 125 FLEXITY LRVs to the Frankfurt Transport Authority VGF

Posted: 27 May 2014 | Bombardier Transportation | No comments yet

Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation has delivered 125 high-floor LRVs of the BOMBARDIER FLEXITY Swift type to the Frankfurt am Main Transport Authority on time…

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Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation has delivered 125 high-floor LRVs of the BOMBARDIER FLEXITY Swift type to the Frankfurt am Main Transport Authority (VGF) on time. Delivery of the new vehicles began in 2008 and is scheduled to be completed by May 2017. VGF is replacing vehicles that are up to 40 years old with the new LRVs.

Bombardier continuously develops its vehicles with a view to passenger comfort and flexibility, offering a pleasant mass transit experience in Germany’s financial hub even at peak times. VGF operates two types of vehicles that can be combined with each other. These are 25 m long bi-directional vehicles that can be combined in train sets of two, three or four cars depending on the route and the time of the day as well as 50 m long vehicles that passengers can walk through end to end.

“Bombardier’s vehicles have become the backbone and face of mass transit in Frankfurt. With these modern and reliable LRVs we are able to offer passengers a metro operation at the highest level. This is what a company such as VGF is all about, and what our customers expect from us. For this reason, our investment in the future of public transport is important and necessary,” said Michael Budig, Managing Director of VGF.

The FLEXITY Swift uni- and bi-directional vehicles are equipped with the reliable BOMBARDIER MITRAC propulsion system. The vehicles are 2.65 m wide and 25 m long, accommodating 184 passengers including 48 seated passengers. The 50 m version provides capacity for 94 seated and 272 standing passengers. Air conditioning and spacious multi-purpose areas provide high passenger comfort, while security cameras ensure a safe ride.

The FLEXITY Swift vehicles have been in successful revenue service on Frankfurt’s high-floor networks since 2008 and received the Universal Design Consumer Favorite 09 award. VGF has ordered 224 of these vehicles in total. They operate under the name U5 in Frankfurt as this is the fifth type of metro vehicle ordered since the city’s metro opened in 1968. The first order consisted of 146 vehicles. VGF ordered another 78 cars in December 2011 as part of its continuing fleet modernization and the extension of the Frankfurt metro network.

“We are proud of the long-standing, good partnership between VGF and Bombardier Transportation,” said Germar Wacker, President, Light Rail Vehicles, Bombardier Transportation, referring also to VGF’s order of 65 FLEXITY Classic trams from Bombardier in 2003. “This partnership is based on several factors: excellent cooperation, the joint effort to further improve vehicles continuously, our products’ high availability, the know-how as well as VGF’s positive experience of our vehicles in operation, their maintenance and technology.”

The vehicles are built at Bombardier’s traditional centre of excellence for trams and light rail vehicles in Bautzen, Germany. The site has produced mainline and mass transit rail vehicles since 1896. The electrical equipment is provided by the Mannheim site, the bogies from Siegen, both also in Germany.

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