Stadler lodges appeal against SBB contract award
posted on 28th Nov 2025 10:02
On 28 November 2025, Stadler announced that it has lodged an appeal with the Federal Administrative Court against the SBB's award of a contract for 116 double-deck EMUs (editorially abbreviated): "After an in-depth analysis, Stadler came to the conclusion that the award decision should be reviewed by the Federal Administrative Court as an independent authority, thereby ensuring the transparency demanded also by the public.
Stadler offered an existing double-deck EMU. Since 2012, 153 such KISSes have been operating on the SBB network with maximum availability of 99 %. Stadler has sold over 700 of these double-deck trains to 14 countries. The price difference compared to the winning bid is only 0.6 %. Following the SBB's award decision on 7 November 2025, Stadler analysed the evaluation matrix in detail. Even after in-depth analysis of the available documents, Stadler cannot understand the points of the evaluation and the resulting award decision.
Stadler's bid, based on the KISS double-decker train, which has proven itself in daily use, was undervalued compared to a train that only exists on paper. Stadler cannot understand how the winning bid was able to stand out in terms of evaluated criteria such as operating costs, quality, maintenance, sustainability or service contracts.
An independent review of the award is therefore appropriate. Stadler lodged an appeal with the Federal Administrative Court on 27 November 2025.
The documents provided to Stadler have not clarified numerous open questions in the evaluation. For example, Stadler received only half as many points as the winning bidder in the sustainability category. This is despite the fact that Stadler was the only bidder that would produce the train entirely in Switzerland with short transport routes, for example with aluminium profiles from Valais and other components from suppliers throughout Switzerland.
For Stadler, there is also the question of plausibility: what criteria led to a train that only exists on paper receiving better scores than a KISS double-decker train that has proven itself over many years and has reliable data? These and other unanswered questions could not be sufficiently clarified in a debriefing meeting with SBB.
Stadler does not want protectionism and has never demanded it. Stadler builds on quality, reliability and adherence to deadlines. The company always faces tough international competition and always accepts clear results that lead to negative award decisions. Stadler only resorts to legal remedies in exceptional cases.
Of its approximately 17,000 employees, around 6,000 workers in Switzerland and 3,000 in Germany. When it wins international tenders, Stadler decides where the orders will be processed on a case-by-case basis. Where possible, this is always close to the customer. The SBB order would have been manufactured entirely at Stadler's plants in Switzerland. Stadler builds trains for its home market of Switzerland, with around 80 % of the added value generated in this country and over 200 local suppliers, most of which are SMEs. The company remains strongly committed to its home market and SBB."
