KISS trains back on track, says minister

(JB) Problems dogging the new state-of-the-art KISS trains linking #Luxembourg to Koblenz in Germany should soon become a thing of the past, a minister has said.

Luxembourg rail firm CFL invested 98.5 million euros in 11 new double-decker trains, the first of which came into operation in autumn 2014.

A total seven trains were expected to run the Koblenz line with one kept as a back-up.

However, several services between Luxembourg and Germany were cancelled this year when technical problems forced CFL to remove two trains from operation.

The first problem arose at the end of May when a bird caused a short-circuit in one of the engines, causing serious damage to the electrics.

To further add to the challenges, the braking system on the same train was damaged following a manufacturing fault with the dehumidifier. The latter caused corrosion to the brakes so severe that they must now be replaced.

Infrastructure Minister François Bausch said that because these types of damage are extremely rare and the spare parts required are not readily available from the supplier, it took some time to locate them.

“Delivery of the spare parts took several weeks and the repairs are expected to be completed for autumn 2015,” he said.

A second KISS train was taken out of action for two weeks in July because of problems with the braking system and electric batteries. It was fully operational by July 30.

Minister Bausch said that CFL has since adjusted its stock of spare parts and that it may request compensation from the train manufacturer for disruption to services caused by manufacturing faults.

The KISS trains, which can reach speeds of up to 160 k/h, are designed to accommodate up to 24 bikes, 284 seated passengers and provide two toilets accessible for people with disabilities.

Do not miss the news - sign up to receive the wort.lu newsletter in English delivered to your inbox six days a week.