Overview

• Berlin and Brandenburg selected a consortium of Deutsche Bahn, Siemens and Stadler for the Nord‑Süd and Stadtbahn packages covering operations, new trains and long-term maintenance.
• The contract foresees 15 years of operations starting in the 2030s, delivery of about 1,400 S‑Bahn cars and up to 30 years of vehicle maintenance, with a total volume around €15 billion.
• Alstom, which bid to build and maintain trains, has until September 11 to file a complaint with Berlin’s procurement chamber after most of its earlier lawsuit was rejected in March 2024.
• Because the award takes effect in the 2030s, older S‑Bahn trains are expected to stay in service longer than planned on the affected lines.
• Funding was cleared by the Berlin parliament’s main committee in July, media reported that award letters went out Friday, and reactions ranged from union support to criticism from the ‘Bahn für Alle’ initiative over partial privatization.