Move

NMBS / SNCB to order 180 CAF Civity trains, including battery-powered sets

Posted by Timothy on

The Board of Directors of the National Railway Company of Belgium, the NMBS / SNCB, is set to award the contract for the new MR30 / AM30 trains to manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) from the Basque Country in Spain, Thibault Lapers‘ mobilithib blog has learned from a source.

The decision follows numerous appeals to the Belgian Council of State from other manufacturers who had also submitted bids. Competitors Siemens and Alstom, trade unions and human rights organisations also protested the choice for CAF. 

Because of employment in Bruges but also because CAF is involved in projects in Israel, which has made itself highly unpopular with its actions in Gaza and Palestine. Although now attention has shifted towards Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. 

These detours via the Council of State have cost NMBS/ SNCB eight months, meaning the MR30 / AM30 process is already facing initial delays. The order will be divided into three types of trainsets, including one fully battery-powered.

According to a mobilithib source, the NMBS / SNCB Board of Directors plans to award the call for tenders for the new MR30 / AM30 electric multiple units to the Basque manufacturer CAF ton Friday 5 December 2025. The source could not confirm whether the selected model is indeed the CAF Civity platform.

This step follows an initial award to CAF at the end of February, then a suspension in mid-April by the Belgian Council of State for “lack of transparency”, following an appeal by French manufacturer Alstom, which had also submitted a bid.

In July, NMBS / SNCB again announced its preference for CAF, but in early September the case returned to the Council of State after Siemens (Germany) and Alstom (France) both filed new appeals. Both were ultimately rejected. 

Several associations (11.11.11, Vrede, Intal and Al Haq Europe) also submitted an annulment request, denouncing CAF’s involvement in occupied territories. Their complaint, examined alongside Alstom’s, was declared inadmissible by the Council of State. Respect of human rights or in (dis)involvement war zones is not a factor in  European tenders. 

180 trains

NMBS / SNCB will therefore officially order its 180 new trainsets next January, at an initial cost of €1.695 billion without options, and a current cost of €1.722 billion including the options added by the public company — an increase of around €16 million compared with the initial award in February.

According to mobilithib, the 54,000 seats will be divided as follows:

  • 136 ‘high-capacity InterCity’ units made up of four coaches, including two double-deck coaches, for which SNCB obtained a discount;
  • 20 ‘high-capacity omnibus’ units made up of three coaches, including one double-deck coach;
  • 24 three-coach single-deck omnibus units equipped with batteries. These battery trains will eventually replace the diesel MW41 / AR41 series, some of which will be withdrawn from service next year.

Each unit costs between €7.992 million and €8.860 million, with the battery-equipped version being the most expensive. The added options include validation and approval of various critical components, software, text-to-speech audio synthesis, and additional RGB LED side and front displays.

Design work for the new trains will begin over the course of next year.

Later than 2030

Originally, NMBS / SNCB planned to put the new trains into service in the second quarter of 2029. However, according to an internal document, “none of the selected candidates can meet the start of commercial service as requested in the initial schedule”, resulting in a second delay and a revised target of the second quarter of 2030.

Additionally, NMBS / SNCB must account for “an eight-month delay caused by the appeals in March and September 2025”, pushing the expected introduction to the fourth quarter of 2030. Deliveries are expected to continue until 2033, at a rate of 8 to 52 trainsets per year.

The Siemens MR08 / AM08 Desiro, ordered in 2008, hence the name, only started commercial use in early 2012. 

The first MR30 / AM30 units should allow the withdrawal of the 130 M5 coaches (La Brugeoise et Nivelles) dating from the late 1980s, between 2027 and 2031. They will also support the phased retirement of the MR75 / AM75 ‘Quadruple‘ or ‘Pig Nose‘ units (2031–2034), the MR80 / AM80 ‘Break‘ units (2032–2035), and the AM86 ‘Sprinter‘ units (2030–2032).

2033–2035

If NMBS/ SNCB exercises the first and second MR30 / AM30 options, the trains would be delivered between 2033–2035 (providing 46,000 seats) and between 2035–2038 (up to 70,000 additional seats).

The I6 and I10 coaches are expected to remain in service until 2035, after which the I11 coaches would be phased out between 2036 and 2038, alongside the MR96 / AM96 units, which could allow NMBS / SNCB to expand further into new cross-border services within the next decade.

Retirements already in December 2025

With full ETCS or ERTMS deployment approaching on the Belgian rail network — the transition will be completed on 14 December, except for high-speed line 1 — and the ongoing delivery of Alstom M7 coaches until late 2026, NMBS / SNCB can begin retiring 60 M4 coaches (1979–1983, La Brugeoise & Nivelles) and the remaining 14 locomotives of classes 21 and 27 (BN and ACEC, 1983–1988): 8 from class 21 and 6 from class 27. These coaches and locomotives are generally used for peak-hour trains (P-trains).

Last year already, NMBS / SNCB operated its final services with the MR66 / AM 66 Classic EMUs built between 1967 and 1980.

Delayed Traxx locomotives

The new generation of Alstom Traxx locomotives, which arrived earlier this year, is not expected to enter service until 2027 instead of next year. The 24-locomotive series is still undergoing tests in the province of Luxembourg, following earlier trials in Hainaut. All ordered units are expected to be in service within two years.

The AM30 / MR30 case