The first Siemens’ Desiro ‘High Capacity’ trains entered service in December 2018. The Desiro HC is electric and has conventional cars, each being placed on two 2-axle bogies. The EMU has single-deck end-cars and double-deck intermediate cars.

The Desiro HC is ideally used in metropolitan regions – being used by passengers that will hop-on for a short trip within a city, as well as people that cover longer distances, travelling to sub urban areas and other villages in the region.

Two groups with different needs. The first group needs open spaces to get around, they want easy access, quick and fluent boarding. The other group requires quality seating, more privacy and modern comforts such as wifi and power sockets.

Generally, single-deck trains with many exits/entrances are more suitable for the first group. Double-deck trains do offer more capacity within the same length, but getting on and off the trains takes more time. Why not combining both?

The first five customers for Siemens are:
– NRW for the Rhine-Ruhr Express or RRX concession (Abellio Rail and National Express)
– Baden-Württemberg for the Rhine Valley concession (DB Regio)
– The state-owned Israel Railways (ISR)
– for the Elbe-Spree concession (Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn)
– for the Augsburger Netze concession part 1 (Go-Ahead)

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