“The operation is to be taken over by an external company. That could perhaps even be of interest to Deutsche Bahn,” said Michael Peter, head of the Siemens Mobility railway division, to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. For around 8 billion euros, Siemens is building the 2,000-kilometer high-speed rail network for Egypt, where the ICE is to be used, among other things. It is the largest order in Siemens history. Siemens will also maintain the trains later, but the network will be operated by a third party. Siemens is already a major supplier to Deutsche Bahn, including the ICE and signaling technology.
Siemens Mobility announced the major order a week ago. “Negotiations were very tough. In the end, we prevailed against the Chinese competitor CRRC and against Alstom,” Peter told the Sddeutsche Zeitung. In the end, trust in Siemens was also important. According to Peter, the trains and the signaling technology for Egypt come from Germany, from the plants in Krefeld, Munich-Allach and Braunschweig. There are already inquiries, for example from countries neighboring Egypt. “The dream is to drive as far as Cape Town,” says Peter. There is also great interest in the ICE in the USA. “For example, we are very active on the Los Angeles – Las Vegas route,” says Peter.
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