Arriva and Stadler Rail are celebrating the joint roll-out of the first diesel-electric articulated multiple-unit train (DMU-GTW) in the Dutch province of Gelderland.

Arriva is one of the largest public transport service providers in Europe. Their buses and trains carry more than 1.5 billion passengers in 12 countries every year. The company was taken over by Deutsche Bahn in August 2010. In June 2010, Arriva Netherlands ordered a total of 38 GTW articulated multiple-unit trains from Stadler, of which 24 were for the province of Gelderland and the remaining 14 for the provinces of Overijssel and Drenthe. This brings the total number of GTW trains ordered by Arriva for use in various parts of the Netherlands since 2005 to 99.

Peter Jenelten, Executive Vice President Marketing & Sales at Stadler Rail Group, is pleased about the development: “We are proud to be able to kit our DMU-GTW trains out with an ultra-modern, environmentally friendly drive unit, bringing Stadler state-of-the-art low-floored vehicles into service in another province in the Netherlands. Once again, Stadler was able to process the order quickly. This was only possible thanks to the real commitment and enthusiasm of all those involved. I am very grateful to all of them.”

Anne Hettinga, Managing Director Arriva Netherlands: “The Roll Out is a milestone in our entire implementation. Our client can see with her own eyes that we are on schedule and Mrs. Bieze, deputy of the province of Gelderland, can judge the trains to all the requirements and extra offers we have done.”

Environmentally friendly drive unit

The vehicles are essentially based on the various DMU-GTW trains delivered to Arriva since 2005. The modern diesel-electric drive has been newly developed with a 16.0 V8 TCD motor from Deutz, which complies with the European Stage III B emission standard. This makes these vehicles very environmentally friendly compared to the previous drive systems.

The trains are air-conditioned and 75% low-floored. Legroom is very generous in all compartments. Up to four trains can run at the same time in multiple-unit operation. The vehicles are made of lightweight aluminium and have a newly developed lighter motor bogie. The vehicles have public WLAN, four TFT monitors in each carriage and a passenger counter system. The trains are also designed in accordance with the TSI standard for disabled access.