Contracts and deals in the passenger rolling stock markets.
Germany — Italian private operator NTV-Italo has signed a previously agreed contract with Siemens Mobility for up to 40 high-speed electric trains. The firm order covers 26 Velaro MS trainsets; with the option and 30 years of maintenance included, the deal is valued at around €3 bln. The trains will run in Germany and be maintained at Siemens’ depot in Dortmund, supported by the Railigent X digital platform.
Tunisia — The country is buying 23 electric trains from CRRC, financed through loans from European institutions. Operator Transtu has ordered 18 two-car trains from the Chinese manufacturer for the 19 km, 1,435 mm gauge Tunis – La Marsa line, each able to carry up to 400 passengers at speeds of up to 100 km/h. National operator SNCFT has separately signed for 5 electric trains for the metre-gauge Sahel railway in the country’s east. The two contracts together are worth €128 mln, with €45 mln coming from the European Investment Bank and the remaining €83 mln from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Both deals went to CRRC through open tenders — a result that comes as EU policymakers debate how to respond to the Chinese manufacturer’s growing footprint in Europe.
Mireo electric train for DB Regio. Source: Länderbahn
Germany — DB Regio has opened a preliminary call for expressions of interest covering up to 51 electric trains, intended for the MDSB II network — the Central German S-Bahn serving the Leipzig–Halle conurbation — from December 2031. The route is currently worked by 90 Talent 2 trains, built by Bombardier Transportation in the 2010s. Meanwhile, 75 new Siemens Mobility Mireo trains, including 16 contact-battery units, are due to enter service on the network from late 2026.
Georgia — National operator Georgian Railway has launched an international market survey for 10 electric trains, inviting manufacturers based in Asian Development Bank member states to take part. The bank, whose members include China, Japan, Germany, France and Switzerland among others, is backing the project financially. Responses to the survey will shape the final specification before an international tender is called. Georgia’s government is targeting around $370 mln in rail sector investment by 2028.
Passenger coaches for Egypt at the plant in Dunakeszi. Source: Vitézy Dávid
Egypt — A contract covering undelivered passenger coaches for Egyptian national operator ENR may be terminated. Hungary’s Minister for Transport and Investment, Dávid Vitézy, says talks are under way over the fate of more than 200 coaches still outstanding from an order for 1,350 placed in 2018 with Hungarian–Russian joint venture TMH Hungary, which passed to Hungarian firm Magyar Vagon in 2022. Options on the table include completing the shipment or scrapping the deal altogether. The delays trace back to difficulties at the assembly plant in Dunakeszi, Hungary, where the coaches were built from kits supplied by the TMH plant in Tver together with Hungarian-made components. After TMH withdrew under sanctions pressure, the plant and its parent, Magyar Vagon, kept the contract running alone — at significant financial cost. Once the plant closed, its assets went through bankruptcy proceedings before passing in 2026 to national operator MÁV, which now uses the Dunakeszi site for rolling stock repair and maintenance.
Batch of 14 non-compartment coaches dispatched by the TMH plant in Tver to Belarusian Railway in 2019. Source: TMH plant in Tver
Belarus — Belarusian Railway will take delivery of 30 passenger coaches from the TMH plant in Tver before the end of the year. The first batch of 15 coaches, destined for the Minsk – Moscow service, is due by 1 September, according to the operator. The contract was signed last year, though the coach models and specification haven’t been disclosed yet. Belarussian Railway has also reconfirmed earlier plans to buy 100 freight wagons.
