Overview
- The BVG supervisory board approved buying 166 additional Großprofil‑Baureihe J trains at about €313 million, bringing the total Stadler order for this type to 236 vehicles.
- The new trains will be equipped for CBTC, a digital train‑control system that allows shorter headways, higher line capacity and better energy efficiency by using continuous radio‑based train location and speed control.
- Deliveries of the newly ordered tranche begin in the coming years while roughly 70 J‑series vehicles have been running on the U5 since May and BVG aims to have about 170 J‑series trains in service by the end of this year.
- BVG must upgrade trackside signalling and other infrastructure for CBTC to work and has set a deadline to present a comprehensive CBTC rollout concept by October.
- The supervisory board also cleared funding to replace ticket machines that are more than 30 years old, with phased procurement and installation slated to begin from 2029 to modernize passenger sales and payment options.