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The first four battery-powered trains from Siemens Mobility began regular service for regional rail transport on Network 8 ("Ortenau") on 8 April 2024, marking a premiere in Germany.
Figure 1 shows the Mireo Plus B train running without the pantograph lifted. The official start was celebrated by an exclusive inaugural trip from Offenburg to Oberkirch and back and was accompanied by Winfried Hermann, minister of transport for the state of Baden-Württemberg, together with numerous invited guests.
The hybrid trains are initially used on the routes from Offenburg to Bad Griesbach and from Offenburg to Hornberg. They replace the diesel-powered Regio Shuttle RS1. Plans call for gradually extending hybrid service on other routes in the network. In preparation for introducing the Siemens Mobility trains, the network timetable was adjusted in mid-December 2023. Since then, trains in the Kinzig valley, for example, have been running straight through from Offenburg via Hausach to Hornberg without requiring changes. Passengers traveling to Freudenstadt usually have to change trains in Hausach since the battery trains can serve the Freudenstadt station on the regular schedule only when an additional switch connection has been installed there.
Full Article: IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, Volume 19, Number 3, September 2024
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