"The shock is really deep" Stadler Rail considers appeal against SBB contract with Siemens

Stadler Rail is considering an appeal against the award of the contract by SBB to Siemens for the construction of new trains. According to Peter Spuhleer, Stadler's own offer was only 0.6 percent more expensive than that of the German company.

Keystone-SDA

09.11.2025, 06:38

SDA

According to the Sonntagszeitung newspaper, Stadler Rail has raised the prospect of an appeal against SBB's billion-euro order for new double-decker trains from Siemens. SBB had made a wrong decision, said Chairman of the Board of Directors Peter Spuhler in an interview with the newspaper.

Spuhler explained that SBB's evaluation matrix would be "seriously analyzed" and an appeal would be lodged with the St. Gallen Administrative Court within 20 days if the suspicion that the valuation was too low was confirmed.

Order worth billionsSiemens delivers 116 double-decker trains to SBB - Stadler comes away empty-handed

The price difference between Stadler and Siemens is only 0.6 percent, which is why so-called soft factors were decisive. Stadler was rated significantly lower for these factors, such as sustainability and maintenance.

"This is incomprehensible to me, and it looks as if an attempt was made to underpin the decision with such assessments because of the narrow price difference," Spuhler continued.

"The shock runs deep"

He also criticized the fact that the tried-and-tested Stadler concept had been put at a disadvantage compared to a new Siemens train. "The shock is really deep for all 6000 Stadler employees, including our more than 200 suppliers from all over Switzerland. We all hoped that we would be able to keep this major order in Switzerland," continued Spuhler.

On Friday, the German company Siemens Mobility was awarded the contract for 116 new double-decker trains for the Zurich S-Bahn and regional services in western Switzerland. A total of three bidders were in the running for the 2.1 billion Swiss franc contract.

SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot told the media that the decisive factors in the decision were the investment costs, operating costs, maintenance costs and sustainability.