Mireo Plus B: Siemens battery trains start in Denmark

The Mireo Plus B battery train from Siemens is now in operation in Denmark. The first train of this type for the Danish railway company Midtjyske Jernbaner was inaugurated by King Frederik, as Siemens announced.

The trains operate on the routes from Holstebro to Skjern and from Vemb via Lemvig to Thyborøn in northwestern Jutland, the Danish mainland, Siemens announced. There, they are intended to replace old diesel-powered trains and thus contribute to the decarbonization of local transport.

The Mireo Plus B is based on the Mireo multiple unit with a pantograph. The battery variant additionally has an energy storage system on board, which is charged via the overhead line on electrified routes and supplies power on non-electrified sections.

Siemens is building a battery factory

A two-car unit, like the one used by Midtjyske Jernbaner, has 127 seats and a range of approximately 80 kilometers. A three-car train can cover around 120 kilometers. At the end of September, Siemens announced that it would manufacture the batteries for the trains itself in the future. To this end, the group is building a dedicated factory in Bavaria.

For longer routes without overhead lines, Siemens also offers an alternative variant of the Mireo with a fuel cell. The Mireo Plus H has a maximum range of 800 kilometers as a two-car train and 1000 kilometers as a three-car train.

"When we decided six years ago to replace our diesel trains with more climate-friendly alternatives, we knew very little about the technology," said Midtjyske Jernbaner CEO Martha Vrist.

The railway company has ordered a total of seven of these regional trains. According to Siemens, this was the first order from abroad. In Germany, the battery trains are in operation in states such as Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Rhineland-Palatinate, among others.

(wpl)