The picturesque route of the Heidekrautbahn railway, which connects the north of Berlin with Brandenburg, will be operated with environmentally friendly and state-of-the-art technology from December 2024. The Mireo Plus H trains have just arrived at the Siemens test centre and are being checked for approval.
Traditional route becomes emission-free
Over a hundred years ago, passengers travelled on the Heidekrautbahn from the north of Berlin to the beautiful Schorfheide in Brandenburg, after which the regional railway line is named. Severely damaged during the Second World War, the connection was interrupted in 1961 when the Berlin Wall was built – the reactivation of this section is now underway again. The remaining route network was previously operated by diesel multiple units. In future, these will be replaced by low-noise and emission-free regional trains powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The innovative Mireo Plus H trains will transport commuters to the surrounding area as well as leisure travellers to popular excursion destinations such as the Schorfheide and Berlin’s Wandlitzsee – not only faster and cleaner than ever before, but also climate-neutral in future.
Attractive and environmentally friendly
The ultra-modern Mireo Plus H trains from Siemens Mobility will be manufactured in Germany. This is the first series order for a train fleet with hydrogen technology for Siemens Mobility. The trains are currently at Siemens Mobility’s test centre in Wegberg-Wildenrath near Mönchengladbach. Here they are being put through their paces and NEB’s train drivers are also being trained on site. The trains will go into operation at the end of 2024.
In order to produce the green hydrogen required locally in the region, a hydrogen plant is being built near the Heidekrautbahn. The electricity required for this is to be generated entirely regionally from wind and solar energy. A hydrogen refuelling station on the railway’s premises will create the infrastructural prerequisites to ensure the hydrogen supply at the location where the energy is needed.
Financing: a challenge
For a bank, pure asset-based financing, i.e. financing based solely on the value of the trains as a credit risk, is not yet possible for hydrogen trains. The technical risks and the fact that there is still hardly any market for such trains would make financing too expensive. Borrowing from public budgets would increase their debt. Traditional private-public partnership (PPP) financing would also entail high financing costs. Meeting all interests and at the same time securing low borrowing costs for a long period of time represents an extraordinary challenge for overall financing.
Solution: division of tasks and cooperation between all parties involved – the Mobility Owner concept
The funds for the overall project were made up of grants from federal and state funds as well as loan financing for the trains totalling EUR 60 million from KfW IPEX-Bank.
The complexity of the project and the various interests of the parties involved now require a modern and intelligent architecture for the overall project. The relationships between the various partners are crucial here. Financing in this structure reconciles the interests of all parties: Manufacturer, purchaser, mobility owner, operator and financier.
- A project company of Deutsche Anlagen-Leasing (DAL) is the mobility owner. It limits its functions to ownership, leasing and financing. The financing covers the entire duration of the project – from the approximately 2-year construction period to the end of the 25-year operating period.
- As the operator, Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) concentrates on operating the trains for the term of the initial transport contract of 10 years and pays leasing instalments to the project company.
- The states of Berlin and Brandenburg, as the public transport authorities, award the transport contract and transfer part of the subsidy payments to the project company. At the same time, they secure the subsequent use of the trains for a further 15 years and issue a commitment for subsequent use.
- KfW IPEX-Bank purchases the assigned subsidy payments and thus provides financing for the trains at favourable conditions over the entire term.
- The manufacturer Siemens Mobility receives security for the payments of the purchase price instalments due.
The highlight of this so-called mobility owner concept is that each participant specialises in its core tasks. The advantages are obvious: financing security, favourable conditions close to the municipalities and the greatest possible transparency for the public authorities while at the same time securing the investments, in this case the hydrogen trains, in the long term.
A new architecture for innovative mobility
The challenges of the mobility transition must be mastered with new technology. Due to the multi-layered and complex nature of such projects, it makes sense to share the tasks with several cooperation partners – in a structure that meets the requirements of all parties involved. This is where KfW IPEX-Bank contributes its distinctive expertise and in-depth market know-how in the mobility sector. In principle, the Mobility Owner concept can be applied to all public sector investments in services of general interest. The overall project of the new Heidekrautbahn railway with all its participants provides an excellent master plan for this.
The Heidekrautbahn project as a film: Wasserstoffantrieb für die Heidekrautbahn – YouTube
