Stadler has withdrawn its appeal against Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) for its decision to award a a €2.1bn double-decker train contract to Siemens Mobility. The Swiss manufacturer says it has “found no grounds to continue the legal proceedings” due to “severely limited information available” in documents provided by the Federal Administrative Court.
The 116-train framework agreement, announced by SBB in November 2025, saw Siemens’ Desiro HC platform selected over Stadler’s KISS double-decker, which has 153 trains already in service and is among the most reliable in SBB’s fleet. Stadler had argued its bid was only 0.6% more expensive yet scored significantly lower on operating costs, quality, maintenance, sustainability, and service contracts.
Following Stadler’s criticism, SBB released a follow-up statement emphasising that public tenders must be transparent, fair, and competitive, preventing waste of taxpayer money. “According to procurement law, “Swissness” is neither intended nor permitted”, the Swiss state railway operator said at the time. It also said the evaluation was conducted independently, with no objections raised during the tender process, and that it “was not a close race” between the three different bids.
‘Heavily redacted’
Stadler filed an appeal in November 2025, arguing the evaluation was unclear and lacked transparency. Now, Stadler says the Federal Administrative Court released documents that “are heavily redacted and have only partially restored transparency”. Stadler says it could not access substantively relevant passages and crucial evidence for the contract award decision in the redacted documents, leaving it without grounds to continue legal proceedings.
Peter Spuhler, Chairman of Stadler’s Board of Directors, stated: “We still regret the decision but must accept it based on the information available to us.” Stadler also said in its statement that it is “clearly evident that SBB fully exercised its discretion in evaluating the bids in favour of the winning offer. This is evident from the court documents. SBB opted for a previously untested and entirely new train model.”
SBB’s November 2025 announcement to award the framework agreement to Siemens over the domestic manufacturer triggered public and political backlash, with critics in Switzerland questioning why a German company was chosen over a Swiss manufacturer for a contract worth over 2 billion Swiss francs. Stadler had emphasised its local production benefits, including shorter transport routes and Swiss-sourced components. SBB later clarified that procurement law prohibits favouring domestic production.
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