Lease of locomotives

The Danish State Railways (DSB) seeks to lease electric locomotives to reinforce its passenger fleet during a period of rapid growth in regional and long‑distance traffic. Beginning in December 2026 and lasting until the second quarter of 2030, DSB will require a total of six to twelve locomotives in three distinct phases—ramp‑up, peak, and ramp‑down—aligned with anticipated passenger demand. The leased units will operate with DSB litra EC and other coach litras across its network, providing seamless pull‑and‑push service to support extended train formations and double‑traction configurations.

The procurement specifies the use of Siemens AC Vectron B18 locomotives that have been manufactured within the last five years and are capable of push‑pull operation from either end of a train, as well as coupled double‑traction using the WTB line. These locomotives must perform full functionality from the driver’s cab, compatibly control a second locomotive or coaches, and possess the necessary electrical compatibility for all Banedanmark electrified lines, excluding the S‑Bane, along with any future lines that meet TSI compliance. In addition to the locomotives, DSB requires a comprehensive, full‑service maintenance agreement—including preventive and corrective maintenance, spare parts provision, and access to Maintenance Management System data—carried out in an authorized Danish or Malmö‑region facility that satisfies ECM rules and holds all relevant ECM roles.

The lease arrangement thereby delivers a fleet of modern, dual‑traction-capable electric locomotives jointly with fully integrated maintenance services, ensuring high availability and operational flexibility across Denmark’s electrified passenger network. The locomotives must meet Siemens AC Vectron B18 specifications and be compliant with the ÖBB Fernsteuerkonzept operating concept.

DSB is experiencing significant growth in passenger numbers, particularly in the regional and long-distance segments. To address this increased demand before the full integration of new rolling stock from ongoing procurements, DSB foresees a temporary need to supplement its existing fleet of locomotives in commercial operations from approximately December 2026 until the Q2 2030 as outlined in the tender material (Appendix 1 – Price Sheet). DSB therefore plans to lease electric locomotives to support operations with DSB litra EC and other coach litras over three phases: ramp-up, peak, and ramp-down. In the ramp-up phase, from approximately December 2026 to November 2027, it is expected that 6 locomotives will be needed. During the peak phase, from approximately December 2027 to April 2029, it is expected that 10-12 locomotives will be needed to manage increased operational demand. In the ramp-down phase, from approximately May 2029 to April 2030, it is expected that 6-8 locomotives will be needed as new rolling stock will be phased in and operations with the leased locomotives will scale down. A detailed description of the planned demand is set out in the tender material (Appendix 1 – Price Sheet). To minimize complexity in its daily operations, DSB puts out to tender also the maintenance of said locomotives in the lease as a full-service agreement including corrective and preventive maintenance, provision of all spares etc., where the lessor is responsible for providing locomotives according to required availability. The setup should be as follows: Locomotives: 1. The locomotives should be of type Siemens AC Vectron B18. 2. The locomotives should be capable of performing push-pull operation, from either end of the locomotive coach formation. 3. The locomotives should be capable of performing double traction as push and pull operation, with a locomotive placed at each end of the coaches coupled to the coaches mechanically and electronically via the WTB line. 4. The locomotives should be manufactured within the last five years. 5. It should be possible from the locomotive cab to operate the full functionality, as defined by the ÖBB Fernsteuerkonzept (see sec 1.5), of the locomotive in the other end and the coaches. 6. Any supplementary rail activities necessary to carry out passenger operation should be possible, for instance empty train movement to other locations. 7. The locomotives should be capable of performing operation coexisting with other electric vehicles. Regional Train and Intercity Train Services: 8. The locomotives should be able to perform passenger operation on the electrified lines mentioned in the tender material (Sub-Appendix 03.02 - Operational Profile). 9. Lines illustrating Intercity and Regional traffic are listed in the tender material (Sub-Appendix 03.02 - Operational Profile). For information DSB expected routes and journey times are mentioned in the tender material (Sub-Appendix 03.03 - Routes and Driving Timings). Compatible with Infrastructure 10. The locomotives should be able to perform passenger operation on all Banedanmark’s electrified infrastructure (excluding S-bane). 11. The locomotives should be able to perform passenger operation on any additional electrical lines added to Banedanmark network (provided that this is TSI compliant or identical to already existing Banedanmark equipment). For lines reference is made to the tender material (Sub-Appendix 03.02 - Operational Profile). Maintenance: 12. Lease should include maintenance as a full service agreement including preventive and corrective maintenance, provision of all spares etc. Documentation should be made available to DSB as applicable, including relevant data from the Maintenance Management System (MSS) 13. It is anticipated that the Lessor will provide the maintenance facility to maintain the locomotives. The maintenance facility should be located in Denmark or in the Malmö region (Sweden). 14. Maintenance shall take place in a maintenance setup which is authorized according to ECM rules 15. The lessor or a subcontractor to the lessor should hold all ECM roles 1-4. 16. It is expected that DSB will deliver the locomotives for maintenance to the handover point at the maintenance facility. In the event the provided maintenance facility is located in the Malmö region, DSB will use a subcontractor of DSB for transporting the locomotives between the handover point at the Maintenance facility and DSB’s operational area in Denmark.
Additional information: Participation in the tender procedure may only take place by electronic means via the electronic tendering system used by DSB. For access to the tender documents, the tenderer must be registered or register as a user. If the tender contains several versions of the same document, the latest uploaded version will apply. All communication in connection with the tender procedure, including questions and answers, must take place through the electronic tendering system. Reference is made to the tender conditions for information concerning questions and answers. Interested operators are requested to keep updated via the electronic tendering system. If the tenderer encounters problems with the system, please contact support by submitting a ticket at the following link https://contact.mercell.com/?lang=en or by calling (+45) 70 20 80 14. The tenderer must submit an ESPD with the tender as preliminary documentation of the circumstances set out in section 148(1), paras (1)-(3) of the Danish Public Procurement Act (udbudsloven) and section 137(1), para (2) of the Danish Public Procurement Act. It is not necessary for the tenderer to sign the ESPD document. For groups of operators (e.g., a consortium), a separate ESPD must be submitted for each participating operator. Where the tenderer is a group of operators, the ESPD document of each participant in the group must be signed by the participant in question. The tenderer heading the group and submitting the tender is not required to sign its ESPD document. If the tenderer relies on the capacities of other entities, an ESPD must be submitted for and signed by each of the entities on which the tenderer relies. Before the award decision is made, the tenderer to whom DSB intends to award the agreement must provide documentation of the information submitted in the ESPD pursuant to sections 151-152, cf. section 153 of the Danish Public Procurement Act. As an alternative to the documentation mentioned in sections 153-155, 157 and 158 of the Danish Public Procurement Act, the tenderer may submit to DSB a certificate of registration in an official list of approved economic operators, see section 156 of the Danish Public Procurement Act, issued by the competent authority. DSB only accepts certificates of registration in an official list from tenderers established in the country holding the official list. DSB may use the procedure of section 159(5) of the Danish Public Procurement Act in the event that tenders do not comply with the formal requirements of the tender material. Attention is drawn to Article 5k in Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 as amended which applies to the tender procedure. The provision contains a prohibition against award of contracts to Russian companies and Russian-controlled companies, etc. (reference is made to Article 5k, section 1, for the precise definition of the operators subject to the prohibition). DSB reserves the right at any time during the tender process to require documentation from the economic operators proving that they are not subject to the prohibition, for example by requiring a declaration to this effect and/or documentation of the place of establishment and ownership of the economic operators and any subcontractors. Pursuant to the Danish Investment Screening Act (https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2023/1256) economic operators i) that are domiciled outside the EU or EFTA, or ii) are controlled by or subject to significant influence as defined in the Act from an entity domiciled in or a national of a country outside the EU or EFTA must apply to the Danish Business Authority for an authorisation to enter into a “special financial agreement” within a particularly sensitive sector or activity. DSB has assessed that the conclusion of the contract may be subject to the authorisation requirement. The tenderer should clarify whether the tenderer’s conclusion of the contract will be subject to such requirement. Further details are available at https://businessindenmark.virk.dk/guidance/erst-activities-covered-by-the-investment-screening-act/Special-financialagreements/. It should be noted that the indicated term of the contract will commence on signature of the agreement. It should be noted that the amount is an estimate of the expected contract price for the entire term of the agreement, including the price of the option for extension. A technical dialogue has been conducted prior to this call for tenders. The agreement is not divided into lots, as DSB considers that award of an agreement to be the most efficient due to the nature of the agreement, and as a division into lots would entail a risk in relation to the performance of the agreement. More than one agreement may be awarded if a single tenderer is unable to deliver the full number of locomotives required by DSB. Reference is made to the Tender Conditions, section 8.1 and to Appendix A – Award Criteria, which sets out the procedure applicable in this situation.

Lot: LOT-0000
Title: Lease of locomotives

Procurement documents
Address of the procurement documents: https://eu.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/rwlentrance_s.asp?PID=456048&TID=200416708&B=