Ortenau launches four hybrid-electric Siemens trains

The first four hybrid-electric trains from Siemens have started passenger service in Ortenau. This is Germany's first deployment of the Mireo Plus B battery hybrid train from Siemens Mobility, which can be used on routes with and without overhead lines.

The German city of Ortenau is phasing out its diesel train fleet, and has launched the first four hybrid-electric passenger trains. The trains can operate up to 120 kilometres on battery power alone. Initially, the operating route will run between Offenburg, Bad Griesbach and Hornberg. From there, the hybrid service will gradually be expanded on other routes.

Baden-Württemberg’s State Agency for Rail Vehicles ‘SFBW’ has ordered a total of 27 Mireo Plus B two-car hybrid trains from Siemens, with the company tasked to service and maintain the trains over the next 30 years in the Offenburg rail maintenance depot that opened in June 2023.

“We are writing a new chapter in railway history with this opening trip,” Winfried Hermann, Minister of Transport for the German state of Baden-Württemberg. “Thanks to the battery hybrid drive of the Mireo Plus B, trains operating in the Ortenau region as of today are more climate-friendly than those using diesel. Baden-Württemberg is a pioneer with innovative train technology. All trains should be climate-friendly. We are relying on alternative, climate-friendly solutions wherever there are still no overhead power lines.”

siemens.com