FLIRT the first EMU in Poland to run 160 kph

FLIRTs are the first electric multiple units in Poland to have been granted the permanent homologation to run at a speed of 160 kph.

Stadler FLIRT train

Fourteen FLIRT trains produced and delivered by Stadler for the Mazovia and Silesia provinces have been granted the permanent Rail Transport Authority’s (Urząd Transportu Kolejowego) homologation to run at a speed of 160 kph. The FLIRT train is the first Polish EMU, which got this authorisation. The corresponding temporary homologation for the FLIRT trains was already issued by the Rail Transport Authority in May 2008. Stadler’s vehicles are modern, safe and comfortable, and hence much appreciated by passengers in Poland. Additionally, they can be run in multiple traction and have very favourable life cycle costs, as their energy consumption, maintenance costs and their technical service expenditure are very low. Such costs need to be evaluated over the train’s whole life span of approximately 30 years, and are even more significant than the initial purchase price of the trains.

“We are very proud that the FLIRT trains produced by Stadler for the Mazovia and Silesia provinces as the first EMUs in Poland received the permanent Rail Transport Authority’s homologation to run at a speed of 160 kph and thus fully fulfil the specific requirements of the Polish railway law. Nowadays billions of Polish zlotys are being spent on the modernisation of railroads in Poland to meet the requirements of high-speed lines. These investments, but only combined with the purchase of fast trains, make sense for taxpayers and passengers,” said Stanisław Skalski, Sales Manager of Stadler Rail Group and Member of the Management Board of Stadler Polska.

The FLIRT trains have also been homologated to be operated in multiple traction in Poland. So far Stadler has sold over 540 FLIRT trains for several customers from Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Finland, Norway, Poland, France, Austria and Algeria, and the vehicles are very much appreciated by the company’s customers and loved by passengers.

On 12 February 2010 Hungarian passenger transport operator MÁV-START Zrt. set into operation the last Stadler FLIRT out of the altogether 60 ordered trains. Stadler Rail Group delivered the last vehicle more than two months before the original deadline agreed in the contract, therefore the delivery part of the MÁV-Stadler contract ended earlier than expected.