OREANDA-NEWS. October 18, 2012. KfW IPEX-Bank is financing the purchase of eight diesel railcars for Regentalbahn AG, a subsidiary of NETINERA Deutschland GmbH, that are slated for operation in the Vogtland network by its subsidiary Vogtlandbahn-GmbH. The corresponding agreements were recently signed. This marks the first business transaction concluded between KfW IPEX-Bank and the NETINERA Group, which is the second biggest private provider of LRPT services in Germany.

Vogtlandbahn-GmbH, which has its seat in Neumark in Germany's Saxon region, had in September 2010 been awarded the contract to operate the Vogtland network in the area bordering on Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and also across the national border into the Czech Republic.

The new railcars will enable Vogtlandbahn to rejuvenate its current fleet. They will run mainly between Zwickau city centre and the Czech city of Kraslice as well as between the Zwickau central station and the Bavarian city of Hof.

The diesel railcars of the type "RegioShuttle RS1" are manufactured by the German subsidiary of the long-established Swiss company Stadler Rail AG in Berlin. The vehicles are standard cars that are market-tested and widely used. The Vogtlandbahn cars will also be equipped with special safety features enabling them to be operated in the tram network into downtown Zwickau.

The railcars have already been delivered and will make their first run when the timetable changes in December 2012. They are already being used for training purposes.