Siemens Mobility in a consortium with construction company Leonhard Weiss has won a volume contract with Deutsche Bahn (DB) for modern railway control and safety technology.

This is DB’s first volume contract for modern control and safety technology. The contract value for the consortium is worth around €2.8bn. The awarding of this volume agreement with a total volume of €6.3bn marks a unique development in Germany and secures the capacity to provide digital signalling technology with delivery and acceptance obligations.

The first call-offs under the framework agreement are expected to come as early as spring this year.

“We are especially proud to have won a significant share of Deutsche Bahn’s volume contract together with our partner Leonhard Weiss,” said Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility. “As the global market leader and as part of this new agreement, we will provide the digital control and safety technology needed for the modernisation of Germany’s rail network. The new award and contract model marks a paradigm shift for the rail industry. It enables the industry to develop the resources necessary for modernising Germany’s rail network. And, thanks to its optimised interfaces, the contract will also make the implementation process much more efficient.”

Marcus Herwarth, CEO of track infrastructure construction at Leonhard Weiss, added: “The volume contract underscores DB’s confidence in the expertise and performance of Leonhard Weiss and Siemens Mobility. We are confident that we will play a key role in shaping mobility and the rail infrastructure of the future. We are highly motivated and at the same time have great respect for this major undertaking.

DB’s award and contract model represents a notable shift for the rail industry. Rather than relying on a series of many individual contracts and call-offs, as in the past, there is now a single, large, long-term volume contract. The contract’s partners, including Siemens Mobility and the Leonhard Weiss construction company, are committed to fulfilling a defined order volume for DB. In return, DB is committed to call-off quantities over the duration of the contract.

This contractual approach has advantages. The industry can develop platforms with standard interfaces and reliably develop and build up the necessary resources. Instead of taking the usual eight years, the processes of ordering, planning, construction and commissioning are expected to be shortened to just a few years.

The volume contract from Deutsche Bahn (www.deutschebahn.com) is breaking ground for the future of railway modernisation in Germany. In addition to Siemens Mobility (www.mobility.siemens.com) and Leonhard Weiss (www.leonhard-weiss.com), other companies in the railway industry have their own implementation shares in the volume contract.

These include French firm Alstom (www.alstom.com), which has won a €600m contract for at least 1890 interlocking units.

“Deutsche Bahn is taking a big step in digitalising the German rail network,” said Tim Dawidowsky, president of the central and northern Europe region at Alstom. “We are proud that they are relying on Alstom’s digital interlocking as well as train control and safety technology. A long-term framework agreement with a fixed scope is the basis for maximum success in implementing the Digital Rail Germany initiative. Alstom will make an important contribution to this success.”