This is the first visual of the future ICNG for the Dutch railways. ICNG means InterCity Nieuwe Generatie and these trains are going to replace the Koploper and loco-hauled IC rolling stock in the Netherlands. They will have a top speed of 200 km/u and will be able to run on the conventional Dutch rail network (1,5 kV DC) and the high-speed line as well (25 kV AC).
The design of the trains will be based on the Alstom Coradia platform. It was already known that the French manufacturer was the preferred bidder for this contract, but Siemens decided to object. Now the court has decided that the bidding procedure was correct. So Alstom it will be.
We see a sketch, nothing more yet, of a white single deck train with new exterior design. The front section resembles many other products of Alstom, the front window configuration hints to Alstom’s AGV. The body shape and the camber above the first bogie is similar to those of the Coradia Liner design for SNCF. In the next year, the design will be finalized.
NS now places an order for 79 articulated trains. They come in two different compositions: 49x 5-car and 30x 8-car trains. There are options for 80.000 additional seats (around 150 trains). They will enter service as of 2021, starting on the routes Amsterdam – Rotterdam – Breda and The Hague – Eindhoven via the high-speed line.
Update: The trains are designed and developed in Saint-Ouen (France) and Salzgitter (Germany) by an international team of experts of six different nationalities and will be manufactured in Alstom’s site in Katowice (Poland). Other European sites will be involved in the project: Charleroi (Belgium) for onboard signaling, Ridderkerk (The Netherlands) for the commissioning, warranty, support, training and services, and in France, Valenciennes for the interiors fitting, Reichshoffen for the design of the driver’s cabin, Ornans for the motors, Tarbes for the design of the traction inverters and the manufacturing of power modules, Villeurbanne for embarked electronics and internet, and passenger information.
Read all information in the press statement from NS and in the press statement from Alstom.
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