CAF starts the new construction and modernisation of the historic railway depot in Gelsenkirchen - Bismarck with a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony. In future, the modern, battery-electric local trains for the Niederrhein-Münsterland network will be maintained at this depot.
In February 2025, CAF successfully completed the complex planning approval process for the construction of the new railway depot in Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck by receiving planning permission from the Münster district government. This paved the way for the necessary preparatory work to set up the future construction site and for the start of construction work.
With the official ground-breaking ceremony on 9 July, the CEO of CAF Germany, Ronald R.F. Lünser, the Mayor of Gelsenkirchen, Karin Welge, the Chairman of the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association, Oliver Wittke, and the CEO of the Spanish CAF Group responsible for the global maintenance business, Ibon García, set the course for the reactivation and modernisation of the historic railway site in Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck in front of around one hundred invited guests from politics, business, administration and transport associations.
However, the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony not only laid the foundations for the new building in the proverbial sense, as around 14 new points and 3,500 metres of new track will actually be laid. This also includes an electrified group of tracks for vehicle handover, stabling and rapid charging of traction batteries. In addition, the railway site has two sidings to the DB infrastructure in the east and west.
On the 90,000 m² site, a 3-track workshop hall and various technical buildings, e.g. for the external cleaning system of the trains or for processing the wheels and wheelsets. The buildings, which together cover around 6,500 m², will be supplemented by further technical facilities. CAF's involvement will not only restore a disused industrial site but also drive forward the urban and economic regeneration of the area with a hightech project that combines sustainability, digitalisation and efficient operationalisation.
Completion is planned for the end of 2026. The new railway depot is intended for the long-term maintenance of the vehicle fleet for the Lower Rhine-Münsterland network, which will gradually begin operation from 2027 and replace the old diesel traction units. To this end, CAF is supplying the Verkehrsverbund Rhein Ruhr (VRR) and the Nahverkehrsverbund Westfalen-Lippe (NWL) with a total of 76 battery-electric BEMU multiple-unit trains.
The delivery and maintenance of the new battery-electric multiple units are a significant contribution to the modernisation of local public transport. The VRR (Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr) and the neighbouring NWL (Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe) as the public transport authority have set themselves the goal of replacing diesel operation in their rail networks with locally emission-free battery-electric multiple units.
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