Stadler secures tailor-made contract in the High Tatras region, Slovakia

A current train in the High Tatras mountains

Stadler has secured a contract to deliver five rack-and-pinion/adhesion traction GTW-type multiple units, and a multifunctional rack-and-pinion/adhesion traction locomotive, for the Slovakian rail company ŽSSK.

The vehicles will be deployed during 2022 on the rack-and-pinion and adhesion traction network for Tatra Electric Railway’s (TEŽ) metre-gauge electric mountain trains in the High Tatras, the smallest high-mountain region in the world.

“We’re thrilled to have won this tender and look forward to supplying TEŽ with our latest generation of reliable, safe and comfortable GTW-type low-floor units. The rail operator and passengers will benefit from the modern vehicles to the same extent. We are particularly proud that with this order we are able to build on the joint, successful history with the customer ŽSSK in the High Tatras”, said Peter Jenelten, Executive Vice President, Stadler Rail Group.

The passenger vehicles ordered by TEŽ are specially adapted for combined rack-and-pinion and adhesion traction operation and universal vehicles of this type are already operating successfully in France and Switzerland.

The five new multiple units each offer 91 seats and two wheelchair spaces as well as multifunctional zones for bicycles and pushchairs. They are equipped with Wi-Fi, air-conditioning and a modern passenger information system as well as a video system and passenger-counting facilities. The low-floor design allows passengers to board and exit easily on the same level.

The multifunctional locomotive has an electric drive and a diesel engine, which meets EURO-IIIB emissions standards. In winter, a snow blower can be fitted onto the locomotive to clear snow from the TEŽ tracks.