Baden-Württemberg procures double-decker trains with Heuking team for EUR 2.5 billion

Baden-Württemberg’s state company SFBW awarded Alstom the largest order in the company’s history: Alstom will supply 130 new double-deck trains and maintain them for 30 years at an order value of about EUR 2.5 billion.
 
Alstom will need to design the vehicles based on the state’s strict specifications. Featuring a new innovative interior design, the vehicles will offer lounge areas in addition to standard seats. Each train will have a total of 380 seats. With a top speed of 200 km/h, they are also very energy efficient. Alstom is not only responsible for delivering the vehicles on time and equipping them with ETCS and ATO for automatic operation but will also have to offer 30 years of full-service maintenance.
 
“We are pleased that SFBW was able to successfully conclude the award procedure and prevail in the review procedure,” said Dr. Ute Jasper, Partner and Head of the Practice Group at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek. “The state successfully invited bids for the life cycle model once again and is thus able to secure availability of the vehicles” added Dr. Christopher Marx, Partner and contract specialist at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek. “We were able to fend off all challenges in relation to the procedure – all the way through the instances up to Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court,” said Dr. Laurence Westen, Partner and award specialist at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek.
 
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek’s “Public Sector & Public Procurement” department has been one of the market leaders in public procurement law for years. Its lawyers hold top spots in German and international lawyer rankings. Since 1991, they have advised on awards, restructuring, large-scale projects, and cooperations in the public sector and have accompanied several hundred large-scale projects of federal, state, and local authorities and their subsidiaries with a total volume in excess of EUR 40 billion without any procedure having been successfully challenged to date.
 
Dr. Ute Jasper is one of the most renowned lawyers for procurement and infrastructure projects in the public sector. She advises federal and state ministries, municipalities, and businesses, particularly on innovative and complex projects. Ute Jasper heads Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek's “Public Sector & Public Procurement” department. For years, she has been ranked number 1 with her team in JUVE Handbook of Commercial Law Firms. According to “Law Firms in Germany,” she is the “premier contact on the market” for infrastructure. In October 2016, she received the JUVE Award for Regulated Industries with her team.
 
Dr. Christopher Marx is a Partner and a member of the “Public Sector & Public Procurement” practice group. He advises the federal government, states, municipalities, and companies on complex competitive procedures and innovative contract models. He is regularly recommended in Public Procurement Law and the Transport sector, including by Legal 500, Handelsblatt, and JUVE.
 
Dr. Laurence M. Westen is a lawyer and has been a Partner in the “Public Sector & Public Procurement” practice group, Düsseldorf, since 2020. His practice focuses on advising contracting authorities on the award of large-scale projects and on defending against applications for review.
 
The project team also included Dr. Stefan Jöster, Mike Steffen, Max Richter, and Moritz von Voß.